Poetry by Jamie McKenzie

The price of war


The price of war is grotesquely
And obscenely high
Impossible to grasp
Beyond calculation
And difficult to add up

The cost of war is so monstrous
When counting casualties
The fresh graves
The bombs
The bullets
And the broken bones
The schools, churches and homes
All destroyed
Laid low
And obliterated
Wantonly
The thousands of new widows
The countless new orphans

It’s a devastation so vast and incomprehensible
The mind cringes
Shudders
And trembles
As headlines
Videos
And war photos
Disrupt the calm of everyday life
Intruding
And interrupting
Our reverie
With horrors
Unimaginable

The price of war is
Obscenely high
And impossible to grasp
And so we change the channel
Go to concerts
Swim
Hike
Play golf or tennis
Complain about inflation
And the price of gas
While pretending it is not really happening
Not here
Not now
Not in our own backyard

































© Jamie McKenzie, all rights reserved.

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