Peace escapes us all. While the world watched
innumerable invading armies laid waste to these cities of antiquity
these places where dreams were born and legacies were suckled
these places where inhumanity marched
for centuries, like an ugly snag in the fabric of time
suffering as bare as the weeping heart of a bard –
the one whose words were chosen to represent the Victors
and the gilding of their unrepentant shrines
yet murmured the sorrow of those shallow graves across the land.
Cities fell and families were shattered
Let us not forget the babies and the mothers and the fathers
the milk that would never nurture
the sons that would never walk in their father’s footsteps.
Let us not forget
those whose lives were sacrificed for the greed of tyrants
for the blind faith of patriots
and the screaming void of an empty dinner bowl.
Honor them: All of the Fallen.
Forgive them their sins against each other.
Pray that someday all that inhabit the Four Corners
of the Earth will come to know that souls
know no flag, no badge, no boundary. God sees all and counts
the many tears that fall from every eye.

© Tina Zabielski 2011-2019