A Soldier’s Tale

Lest we forget
war is waged by men
fighting other men
led by men in towers;

Lest we forget
war is fought for gain
defined by those who win
and not by those who fought;

Lest we forget
those who win the war
they live to tell the tale
and those who lost
are soon forgotten;

Lest we forget
war is death and loss and sorrow
war is killing others
mostly friends we never met;

Lest we forget
war cannot bring peace
and cannot save the lives
of those who gave us theirs;

Lest we forget
if to fight for peace we die
those we leave behind
may not find peace again;

Lest we forget
freedom won by blood
shackles us forever
to those who fought and died;

Lest we forget
the borders we die for
are not worth living for
if the checkpoints still remain;

Lest we forget
if we fight for our faith
and thus deny the faith of others
our souls are lost forever;

Lest you forget
those who died for you
who said you won the war
to those that died
it matters not;

Lest we forget
those who die
they die with hope
that those who follow
will not die, too;

Lest we forget
those who died for us
they died in vain
if we
don’t stop the fighting.