Do we not see, or do we choose the night,
\nToo blind to grasp the freedom of our light?
\nMust we believe the kill-or-be-killed creed,
\nThat others wait to make our children bleed?
\nSo we militarize, a frantic race,
\nTold it\u2019s to guard a people, time, and place.
\nBut who are \u201cthe people\u201d when the storm is done?
\nThe wealthy soar; the many are undone.<\/p>\n
A father slays the neighbor for his bread,
\nYet scorns the neighbor\u2019s hand to strike in dread.
\nSo nations bully, cloak their greed in might,
\nAnd call their theft a holy, desperate fight.
\nIt\u2019s not for peace their solemn flags are unfurled,
\nBut for the veins of a reluctant world\u2014
\nThe minerals, the land, the right to reign,
\nTo turn a sovereign home to captured terrain.<\/p>\n
They speak of peace while loading another round,
\nA hollow prayer on consecrated ground.
\nFor peace, you see, would end their bread and butter,
\nDeny the chaos from which they mutter,
\n\u201cProtect us now!\u201d\u2014a self-fulfilling lie,
\nThat justifies the power gained by cry.
\nAnd the Devil, in his blood-soaked, tailored guise,
\nJust smiles, for it\u2019s the truth he most denies:
\nThat paradise could root where poppies grow,
\nBut war\u2019s a crop they\u2019ve learned to sow and hoe.<\/p>\n
A child tests limits; so the powerful test,
\nHow far they can transgress and still be blessed.
\nThey learn that envy wears a loyal face,
\nThat other states will bless the cruel grace.
\nSo we support the killer\u2019s rise to fame,
\nAnd call his bloody conquest by a name
\nThat sounds like order, strength, and ancient right,
\nWhile turning from the unconsenting night
\nOf homes demolished, stolen lives and land,
\nA people scattered like forgotten sand.<\/p>\n
And we, who sleep beneath a stolen sun,
\nWhose wealth is drawn from deeds we leave undone,
\nAsk not the cost. But will your conscience keep,
\nWhen those you\u2019ve displaced come to your own deep?
\nFor hell is not below, but here, made plain:
\nFather and son, a field of spilt disdain.
\nNeighbor with neighbor, locked in silent feud,
\nWhile belts are tightened on the multitude.<\/p>\n
The veterans, too, become a cast-off shroud,
\nA few given a cloth to speak aloud
\nThe very lies that sent them to the fire.
\nWhich truth, then, sets us free from this foul mire?
\nWhen so many who could have voiced the cost
\nHave been eliminated, silenced, lost.<\/p>\n
We live in light that others\u2019 shadows bought,
\nAnd only see the truth when hope is naught.
\nIs it a fantasy, a child\u2019s appeal,
\nTo think that war\u2019s eradication\u2019s real?
\nBut war brings profit, and the ledger\u2019s paid
\nBy those who work, oblivious, afraid.
\nSo the deception holds, a gilded cage,
\nUntil we turn from fear and turn the page,
\nAnd see the lie for what it\u2019s always been:
\nThe Devil\u2019s garment, worn by greedy men.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do we not see, or do we choose the night, Too blind to grasp the freedom of our light? Must we believe the kill-or-be-killed creed, That others wait to make our children bleed? So we militarize, a frantic race, Told it\u2019s to guard a people, time, and place. But who are \u201cthe people\u201d when the…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-3977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","tag-poems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3977"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3978,"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3977\/revisions\/3978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alasca-black.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}