How Come We Cannot Stop A War?

There are reasons, they say, why war happens.
Clashing cultures, politics, perceived threats to
liberty and freedom
and power
of those who seek it
and those that have it.
But in a country, my country,
where brilliant minds land probes on Mars and
stop wind and water to harness it for good,
how come we cannot stop a war?

Old soldiers rightly march on Main Street, lest we forget.
They hold their hellish memories, right-turn and fire
in parades
where mothers twinge and
Cub Scouts block their ears but not their eyes
and all wait through the heaviness of taps
where no one’s asking,
how come we cannot stop a war?

We have a war for each new generation.
Guaranteed.
They’ve traded up their uniforms
from pack into platoon,
and mothers twinge now asking,
"How come we cannot stop a war?"

© Photos and text by Kevin Lee, All rights reserved.

Comments

[caitlyn]

i agree completely!. we should be able to stop the war. its stupid that we "cant". seriously, who says that we cant, its caused by humans for things that dont really matter; money, land, power, fuel, other people, space. Really? why do we ahve to have thousands upon thousands of people dying to settle our differences. now, i dont know about you, but i've settled many differences between me and other people by talking, debating, and i'm pretty sure i've never pulled out a gun and shot somebody to settle a problem. and i'm also pretty sure that wouldnt have solved anything if i had. so what makes it ok for people to do that on a global scale? suddnely homoside is alright because its not our people we're kiling? i dont think killing is ok in any state of mind, anywhere int he world, at any point in time. but hey, call me crazy, maybe its just me.....

[jessica]

is it really that hard to just talk things out instead of killing each other?