.
Prey for War
To endure war
is only
meaningful
if you come out
alive
and
not too badly
damaged
at the other
end,
but to endure
simply in order to
endure
until
there is
nothing
left
to lose,
that has been
and still is
the unfortunate
plight
of countless millions,
and there will never be peace
as long as
those martyred souls
fail to haunt
all our dreams.
Acknowledgment: Modeled after Bukowski’s “her only son”
On a Battlefield the Flies Don’t Care Who Wins
On a battlefield the flies don’t care who wins,
nor do worms and maggots,
nor does the ground
eagerly waiting to receive
blood and tissue and fat and bone,
assuming, of course, that your side has lost.
Victors get to carry away their dead,
and their flies are left
to fend for themselves,
c'est la vie.
Acknowledgment: Title from William Stafford
Bio:
Paul Hellweg is a member of both Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He has had over one hundred poems published since his debut in 2009. He won the 2009 Coatlism Press full-length poetry book contest, and he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. For more, please see: www.paulhellweg.com
(author retains copyright)
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