sierra,

That men and women and boys and girls will continue to die in wars, whether just or not seems to be inevitable. I wondered how he got to that point, to being brought home after giving all there was to give. I left it to the reader’s imagination as to what happened before they drafted him.

It seems to me that all fights, regardless of scope, are the result of pride and hurt feelings. While we somehow manage to mature in most ways, we never seem to outgrow that that particular bit of childish folley. 

Thank you for the comments

writer

writer,

I like the far-reaching implications of this  --- I almost wnat to make this one a "Before this" poem followed by a sequel called "After that" (not kidding -- I am serious).

Norm

Daughter,

typo fixed. 

thanks.

Dad

I'm wondering if something so simple as changing 'but first...' to 'before that...' makes a difference.

Before That...


They came for him on Tuesday  
and they brought him home from War. 
 
Before that... 
they served him as an offering 
to the jackals of despair  
that hover near the feast of unchecked pride. 
 
Before that... 
they put him on a transport  
with a thousand other souls 
as bereft of understanding  
as his own. 
 
Before that... 
they formed his hands around the throat 
of his humanity 
and taught him that the screams  
were all in praise. 
 
Before that... 
they fitted him with colors 
to distinguish good from bad 
and crash-coursed him in the ways 
of righteous death. 
 
Before that... 
they came for him on Thursday 
and they took him off to War. 
 
Before that... 
 
writer