WAR and its repercussions

To fight overseas
In the many great wars
That were probably stomped up by those
Politicians with so much to gain
From the carnage
It does keep us all on our toes

Thrown into the battle of somewhere
Expected to kill and to maim
To send little children off to their nirvana
Because anyone out there is game

The dirty work is done by the soldiers
They are on the ground in it all
The rulers they carry on being corrupt
Its men in the battle that fall

Its the intimacy that is awful
The blood and the snot that they see
Victims left lying all over the place
The relations of someone they be

Paid to kill that was their mission
The discord is there and some feel
So little in common with what they are doing
And for years this they just might conceal

THe veterans travelled to Standing Rock camp
Immersing themselves in it all
THe aura of prayer and what they saw there
When they really heeded the call

They had within them the orders to go
And kneeled down and begged that they be
Forgiven for crimes against indigenous people
Its very easy to see

Soldiers are pawns on a chessboard
Arms sales and regime change goes
Great families making vast profits
Many are fodder for crows

Giving their lives for a pittance
The Professional soldier He be
Their to do all of the dirtiest work
Whilst the diplomats earn naturally

The mind is a muscle of measure
It milks all the shit that it sees
Its all bottled up in the psyche
To convulse and confuse and to seize

The emotion that came with the seeing
Each sequel from beginning to end
The death of some friends in the tank you were driving
That curdling message does send

Its feelings out into your body
You live with it all of the time
When you smile it is waiting to express itself
But there isn’t a reason to rhyme

And so being called to an encampment
Where mercenaries do occupy
Some parts of ones darkest emotion
They see themselves like any guy

Paid to kill, a paid assassin
But in this scenario where
All the the protectors
Are Peaceful offering love
With their prayer

And seeing them beaten and broken
Shot through and taized and the rest
Militarized forces now being used
Criminal practice at best

Elders and children and women
And young warriors all are taking the flack
They are there to protect the water
And many got shot in the back

It makes you recall how in war time
You perhaps did things that you
Regretted but it just took over
And you didnt know what to do

So going along to the protest
And aiding these people you felt
A wave of complete understanding
And before them well you just knelt

Down asking for their forgiveness
That sensory feeling inside
You were moved by the weight of compassion
And with empathy how they relied

And you indentified the paid people
Professional soldiers who kill
And maim for a living
Thats what they are giving
Empathy it never will

Prove much to them in the long run
They are beyond feeling sad
They dont have the genes for it
They are just monsters
Coddled and pickled and bad

So to feel rhat great wave of emotion
That curtain of prayer in the sky
To be moved by that honest protection
A reason to heal and not lie

To regret and let the heart burn for a while
Be sadder be wiser be sure
Its an analgesic it comes from within
A curative really and more

And the affect on the indigenous people
And others that watch far away
Its a precious parable it is real goodness
That brightens the darkest of day

Thank you TINA SELsmark for inspiring me to write this poem
Based on your touching explanation of the veterans at Standing Rock