Here Lie The Bodies
Here lie the bodies
Of countless young men
In cold, earthen graves
Across hillside and glen,
Sold the old lie
“It wont happen again”
But wars are made to make money.
They joined up to fight,
To do the right thing,
Believing it worth it
For the peace it would bring
But they couldn’t hear
The cash registers ring
Because wars are made to make money.
Politician proudly declare
“It's how we are defined:
Courageous defenders
Of the weak and maligned”
But they hide from us
How their pockets are lined
Because wars are made to make money.
Their talk is of peace
As protocol demands
But behind the scenes
Are the corporate plans
Of how to ‘liberate’
Neighbouring lands
Because wars are made to make money.
All wars are the same:
The weak and poor die,
Our armies are recruited
By a fake battle cry.
So when will we stop
And start to ask why?
When the wars no longer make money.
.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAnd start to ask why?
ReplyDeleteWhen the wars no longer make money
It is most frightening to ask what happens when war is no more lucrative. Cannot think of alternatives except stealing from each other and getting killed in the process.
Hank
Live together peacefully? Can that be an alternative?
DeleteIndeed... the military industry complex is a force of its own, just like Ike once said.
ReplyDeleteHow sad, but true, very well said.
ReplyDeleteOoo that last line... It hurts becuase truth hurts...Powerful.
ReplyDeleteExcellent write.
ReplyDeleteI always ask: Who is selling the weapons in this war? They are the ones making the most money.
ReplyDeleteWars are, indeed, made of money... and fuel by lies (and the hopes of the blind). Sad, sad, sad... and true...
ReplyDeleteI have never liked Anzac Day. It always takes a day to get over it.
ReplyDeleteI have never met a person who liked war or who wanted one. Yet we have been warring since the beginning of time and the world has never been in a state of peace at any given time. There is something wrong with earthlings!Good poem...nicely crafted !
Greetings from the deep dark past, Mr. Newberry!
ReplyDeletePowerful piece.
ReplyDeleteThis is packed with truth. If wars didn't make money, congress wouldn't sell it.
ReplyDeleteThis packs quite a punch ~ and you are right, of course.
ReplyDeleteBravo! (And I think it fits nicely to the tune of 'And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda'.)
ReplyDeleteWell, then, there will always be war. What strange creatures we humans are!
ReplyDelete