'Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our childrens future. And we are all mortals.' - John F. Kennedy
I wrote this poem with the idea of the countless useless wars that have been waged, on the pages of the years that have written our history. So much that could have been avoided, only if we managed to talk before we took action. Only if we took another step toward patience and tolerance. Can we, as a whole nation or community or people, gain happiness or freedom or power by taking away from others what is rightfully there's?
And this is a question that every country in power, needs to ask themselves. After all, we are all human. We strive and struggle for the same things. A soldier fights on the battleground and goes back home to his family. So does a doctor, a lawyer, a painter, a laborer, a stranger or a wanderer. Everyone has a family. So why can we not live as one people. Why does everything have to be mine or yours? Why can we not put our differences and prejudices aside? And instead of waging wars, wage love and peace. I guess we have come too far now, to go back to a time when the world was not filled with so much violence and devastation on its own hands. But it also prompts me to another question, when has peace really been around since man has lived? The competitive nature of man, after all he is a survivor. But that is for another day. For now, I'm hoping that we all find what is common between us and appreciate it, and learn to live with what is not. Live and let live. No guns, no battle grounds, no bloodshed. Only peace, love and faith in each other. Hopefully, we find the link. The basic common link, as Kennedy said, that brings us all together.
So inspired from the never ending wars of the world I wrote,
The Soldier
He brandished his sword
In the glorifying of his victory
And under the brash sun
He felt a sense of freedom
The land he had fought on
Struggled to get through
A few hours ago
Now belonged to him
He walked on the battleground
With his face high
His chest expanded
And looked around
Here, on this land
He had killed
Shot, slaughtered
Separated, captured
Would it be known as the victory?
Or a great massacre
To take control of, to captivate
Another’s territory was his joy
Blood and sorrow the people cried in
And he failed to see, In a sudden
The victory he had emblazoned
Fell to a regret, a failure, a blame, a shame
His sword fell with shame
On his knees he was and in tears
Somehow, the brash sun
Now penetrated into his skin
Not a sense of freedom anymore
The lives of thousands that he tore
Inside him guilt he felt
And a pain that would never melt
Walking between the dead
And his new land was all that he had
The soldier returned
He had won and sooner he had lost
xxx
Peace! :)
