Victory

The soldiers lie
Their faces faceless in their multitude
Their chains of war lifted
From sea to shining sea
The trenches flood over.
Not with water, nor mud.
But with death. The rivers run red with blood.
The air has a presence to it. The reaper has come
With his scythe and harvested
The lives of the innocent.

The memories flood.
Each man a legacy.
The children scream at home
"DADDY, WHY DID YOU LEAVE"
the wind chants

"Daddy's gone 'cross the ocean,
Leaving just a memory.
A snapshot in the family album
Daddy, what else did you leave for me?"

The wives unable to answer in their own grief
Suffering
Torment
Despair

The battlefield is poisoned
Not from gas. But from memory.
The memories rise into the air and a mirage
Is seen by the survivors.
Is seen by no one

But smile young man.
You get to go home.
Yes, your brothers are dead.
Yes, your friends are dead.
Yes, they died for a reason they did not know.
Smile young man.
You get to go home.

But why aren't you smiling?
The war is over, you survived.
But you don't know who you are.
You know only how to hate.
How to kill, how to hurt.
How to disdain, despise, destroy, die.

I know of life.
I know of its lack
I have seen it
I have taken it.
I watched him die.
I watched him suffer.
I wish it was me.
I wish it was nobody.
I don't know what I wish.
I don't want to die
I wish I had never been born.

At least the days of
Walking up and down in the earth are over.
But the hedge is gone
The protecting wall has been lifted
And the flood of reality comes.
And the world is cold
And the world is twisting and spinning
And the world has skipped you
And the world doesn't care.

The countries of the world rejoice at their victory.