In a remote place of safety, leaders declare their instructions.
Soldiers obey their orders to wreak death and total destruction.
This ageless, timeless madness is once again repeated.
With no mercy or compassion until the enemy’s defeated
Through smoke filled skies a blinding light
With deafening blasts throughout the night
Buried in rubble an injured child cries
A mother seeking shelter can find nowhere to hide.
With innocent lives lost, as schools and hospitals are ravaged.
While women and children slaughtered, are deemed as collateral damage.
Doctors and nurses toil endlessly to save many shattered lives.
With no light, heat or medicine, they pray some may survive.
A soldier may be victorious, but he will never truly win.
If leaders send him somewhere else to do it all again
Greed, violence and destruction often raises its ugly head.
And the true cost as always, will be the mourning of our dead.
The resonating beauty of a poppy in full bloom
Will forever embody the memory of those we lost too soon.
Old soldiers in their finest have earned our love and respect.
We must learn from their sacrifice and vow never to forget.