some question

they are born
at first they are nurtured, cherished even
then they grow up
and are told that they are needed
to keep the foe at bay
the mothers are proud, if sad
but some are bitter
they have questions
does war provide the only
means to be heroes?
do we think that if blood is not spilled
on the ground
the sun will not rise?

and what of all the maimed and crippled
those who survive
legless
crumpled in their wheel chairs
forgotten
to live out their lives
long after the war is over
the next war on its way?
did they lust to be heroes?
or were they merely the unlucky
the ones whose numbers came up
the sons and daughters of the poor
to whom promises were made
or were the children of zealots
eager to see them
fight for their country
to make their parents proud?

or is war our disease?
in our blood
chronic
incurable

by Barbara Wolf (2006)