Damage

damage done,
a smoking gun,
stray bullets of a battle won

no heroes in a modern war;
no honor in a bloody corps;
no respect for the human corpse

Sun Tsu’s art is in the right
when victory averts a fight--
words of peace are only trite
where men are never ruled by might.

damage done,
a tale spun,
false records of a battle won

no justice in the battle fought;
no reason in a headline’s thought;
no byline that which can’t be bought

hard for us to empathize
when victory enforces lies--
justifies who lives and dies
by painting pictures of good guys.

damage done,
isn’t it fun
to look back on the battle won?

to satirize permanent scars;
adapt the plot for movie stars;
make a living off memoirs

can’t stop damage at its source
when victory forgets remorse--
another ride on our warhorse,
symptoms resolved with applied force.

damage done to mental health,
the system does it to itself.