^{_{“That life, like the vapor on a tea cup, appeared only to disappear.”}}

He carried her down the street
Holding her as close to his heaving chest as humanly possible
His strong arms supporting her tiny spiritless form
Thin frail limbs
Swinging free
Lifeless and broken
Blood stains covering her flowered blouse
Torn wool skirt
Bare legs
Infant feet
And frozen questioning angelic face.

A wife watches as her husband frantically approaches
Her worst fears realized
Hot tears burn pale rivulets down her dusty cheeks
Clenched fists raise to heaven
And then lower to beat upon her chest
As another devastated mother wails over
“An expected, yet unfortunate, casualty of war”


He enlisted at 19
Skeptical of what he was told
She was 20 and had unsettling questions
And deep seated doubts
But they enlisted
Nonetheless

Together they fired the rounds
That strayed into a dead end street
Whisking away a “father’s joy”
And a mother’s only child

Together they will live with that knowledge
Together they will spend a lifetime
Wondering
Who that little girl was
And who she was meant to be


Back home another couple
Choke back tears
As they prepare to bury
The flag draped remains of their “little girl”

They remember her
In happier times
Wearing pink ballet tights
And brand new slippers
Smiling proudly as she clumsily attempted
Her first pirouette

That dream
That life
Like the vapor on a tea cup
Appeared
Only to disappear
Almost as soon as it began

Now she belongs to the ages
Living in wounded hearts
And memorialized
Alongside the others
In marble,
Bronze,
And with white wooden crosses

Not far off
In the late afternoon shadows
An older sister
And two younger brothers
Seek to comfort a widowed mom
Racked with grief at the loss of her first born son

Too poor for college
Unemployment rampant in his hometown
Recruiters took a “personal interest” in him
And offered him the “educational opportunity of a lifetime”
While serving his country
In the cause of democracy
And “peace.”

Two more, “expected, yet unfortunate casualties of war”

Less than 50 years ago
We woke one day
To realize
That a war
Like this war
Which seemed “just”
And “patriotic”
At the time
Had gone terribly wrong
And the cost of peace
Had become something
The majority
Could no longer abide

At times like these
We yearn for a reassuring word from our leaders
Clarity
A certainty with foundation
Which allows us to believe
That the casualties on both sides
Are somehow justified
That there actually exists
A noble reason
For the horrific loss of life

Yet, while waiting for solace
The litany of words designed to persuade
Are chanted again and again
Inflaming our fears
Feeding our paranoia
Provoking our darkest side
And urging us to see how our “vital interests” are served
By wars
That leave the slaughtered innocents
In their wake
And play upon our blood lust for revenge