Richard W. Reith

THE COST OF WAR

The soldier at war
courageous as the inferno rages
With adrenaline coursing through every vein.
Seeing as he has never seen
Before or since.
With a sharpened awareness he has never known
Before or since.
Living each second more intensely than he has ever lived
Before or since.

The soldiers true cost of war
Lies less in those returned
To the loving arms of God,
And more in those
Who tarry forever in yesterday,
Those who walk through the forest of life
Focused on the shaded floor
Counting the dead leaves that fell,
Not looking up and glorying
In the green life God creates each day.

A nations highest cost of war
Lies in lost what-should-have-beens,
In moments wasted lumbering through the cemetery of their minds
Reliving each moment
As they gaze upon the marble carved names of those they knew.

When the wars are done
When the flags are raised,
The youth of a nation go home
Either to finally savor the divine joy and pain of life
Or to eternally relive the hell that defines them.