What Comes Around

Looking into the display case

You can almost hear the metal clank of the sword

Against the bronze helmet covering the warrior’s head.

Metal swinging violently through the air,

Muscle and sinew straining to avoid or deliver blows,

Highly trained soldiers

Fight for survival and to fight another day.

2,500 years later, little has changed

Except there isn’t much honor in waging war these days.

The king still has self-serving reasons

For sending young people into battle

And soldiers are still treated badly by rulers.

Citizens still do what they’re told,

Don’t think and act for themselves

And are deceived by their leaders.

They don’t seem to notice what is happening.

Are we destined to follow the same well-worn path

Until we hear the ring of metal in our skulls,

Until we notice the taste of blood in our mouths?

Or will we simply change the channel on our TV

And go back to sleep?

One day in the future,

There may be a display case with skulls and labels

Describing how we fought for freedom and righteousness,

But alas, not for freedom from our self-imposed tyranny;

When will we start owning the life we chose?

Donnel Lester

June 2007