When I was a child,

my mother,

whose influence upon me,

lasted for many years,

still does,

when I think about what I want to say.

She didn’t believe in war,

didn’t understand Vietnam,

when I asked her one day what the fight was about,

I was ten,

she said, ‘sugar cane’

Seemed rather simple to me,

a solution appeared ready,

let’s just share the wealth.

~

I am an older man now,

have experienced the wars of our times,

never first hand, only by the news,

so I still don’t really understand,

I haven’t stood on the front lines,

haven’t sacrificed my limbs, my brain, my heart

for something I just don’t understand.

I do know this though,

too many lives,

too many children,

are becoming young martyrs for a cause

they simply don’t understand.

~

Even when I reflect back on being ten,

my mom wearing rose colored glasses,

she taught me then about love,

I still believe in that part: love.