The Becoming of a Man
Those returning from war are changed,
They are different; they are not the same.
Anyone who has been to war, knows this as fact,
Those who haven’t, can’t know.
But it is irrelevant, not meaningful,
To pick sides and fight about war experience,
To defend and justify your life experience.
Those veterans returning from war
Do not want to go to another one,
Do not want their children to fight one.
Do not want their country ever involved in war again!
Surely, there has to be other options!
My God, what happened to man’s ability to think?
To explore alternatives, to consider other alternatives?
War, should never be the first option,
Rather, should be considered only as the last resort.
Veterans who have been to war,
Seldom take up hunting as a sport,
For they have hunted humans,
And been hunted, neither is fun,
Neither is productive or sane.
Killing is something no one should do again,
Once they have done it once.
Might is not right, all people are human,
This is learned by personal insight, experience,
That anyone can be killed in a war,
And once dead, they are all the same.
None of them is ever coming back.
It is said, “Experience keeps a dear school,
But a fool will learn in no other.”
Veterans have all been to a life school,
And all have learned a crucial life lesson,
And having once been to war,
There is no need to go to another,
For nothing was proved by the first.
Veterans know how to be alone,
And how to survive being alone,
They have confidence in themselves,
They can handle alone; handle isolation,
And are their own, best company,
Based on the experience of being on your own,
On depending on yourself…to survive.
Most veterans think politicians are a waste,
Are not to be believed, trusted, or counted on,
For they will say anything to get elected,
And once members of Congress, forget the people
Who put them there, until it is time to run again,
Then the circus and its clowns will start their new show.
When you meet a combat veteran,
You are meeting a survivor,
Who has passed all the tests of manhood,
Has proven his mettle, his honor, his humanity,
He will forever be the warrior, the man,
For the veteran has nothing left to prove,
To anyone, anytime, anywhere…ever.
Curtis D Bennett