He fought
As Nazi and allied paratrooper
As crusader and warrior of Mohammed
As missionary and Pagan chieftain
As Liberator and as terrorist
As tyrant and revolutionary
As Settler and as Indigenous inhabitant
As Israeli and Palestinian
As Catholic and Protestant
He fought
For democracy
To establish Communism
Who was he?
Not just some heartless killing machine
He was
A father
A son
A brother
An uncle
The neighbour
From the next farm
The wars rage on
Never has there
Been the establishment
Of lasting peace
When can the man grieve
Who lost so much
If he came back
He was no longer
The man that began the campaign
Full of bravado and a noble cause
How is the man
To face himself
And reckon with a country
That turns it's back
Once he returns
What is to be done
With the feelings
Once he discovers
The drum beats
Through out his community
To place him as fodder
But the cause was tainted
And the Heroes welcome - denied
Blind patriotism, heartless ideologies
Wage the war
A call echoes through
The lands
That "able men"
Rise to the call
In the next breath
"Men, start all the wars"
Violence that has plagued humanity
For eons
Suddenly becomes a gender issue
Never mind
The resurgence of the glorification
of
Women as warriors
Are we to believe
They would wage war - compassionately?
What will he do
With the grief repressed
As he sells his soul
Day after day
In the corporate board room
Laying lives and livelihoods
In ruins
To affect mergers and takeovers
Destroying the environment
Enslaving people in sweatshops
Does anyone at the gated home
Know or care
What he does at the behest
of the shareholders
In order to keep climbing that "success" ladder
Would the family
Forego the lifestyle
In order for him
To save his soul?
And what of the man
That throughout history
Has sacrificed his body
In ancient colosseums
Waging mortal combat
Or in modern day arenas and stadiums
On ice rinks and pitches
To satisfy the blood lust
And entertain
Spectators male and female
A collective cry
Rings out from the crowds
For the heads of the opposition
or
The official that makes an unfavourable call
Yes there's a imbalance
Of Masculine energy
On the planet
But it's not all embodied in, nor entirely encouraged by, men..
Each is responsible for their own healing
Regardless of gender
The time
For blame and victim consciousness
Has outlived it's best before date
Conditions on earth
Are brought on by humanity
They weren't created in isolation
They most certainly
Will not be resolved
That way
There is no denial here
Of oppressions and transgressions
Sins of omission and commission
of the past
Men must become responsible
for their own healing and growth
Support for each other
Being paramount and long overdue
Society as a whole
Must examine it's priorities
And decide on the status quo
Or, creating conditions and ideals
That encourages
The healing of men and women
The beliefs, behaviour and values
Of the modern world
Continue to uphold and perpetuate
The conditions that inflict further wounds
And push much of humanity
Further away from
Creatively seeking resolution
Within themselves
And each other
I suppose
Men will cease
Waging war
When they are
Sufficiently convinced
It's safe to stop
R. O'Neill (August 08, 2017)
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