War

Contributor: J.K. Durick

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Let’s not quibble about numbers
At this point,
Or second guess causes –
Hindsight after all
Lacks the heat of the moment
That sets things in motion.

Let’s not polish up history
The way we like to do.
Let’s not try to justify
Our lapses in judgment,
Our clumsy morality,
Our faulty reasoning.

Let’s not parade our past,
Our mythical past,
To justify the present.
Earlier generations
Did their best, did their worst.
Let’s leave them
To their quiet graveyards.

Let’s forget the slogans
For the moment.
Let’s leave aside politics
For the time being.
Even leave behind religion,
If it keeps us from being
Clear headed, from looking
At what is, as opposed to what
should be, or might have been.

Let’s settle things, somehow.
Let’s bury the dead.
Let’s clear up the debris.
Let’s ask time’s forgiveness.
Let’s apologize to our children
And then move on.


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J. K. Durick is a writing teacher at the Community College of Vermont and an online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Thrush Poetry Journal, Black Mirror, Third Wednesday, Shot Glass Journal, and Eye on Life Magazine.