War And Peace

The next section in Best-Loved Poems is the section on War and Peace. In my life I have never known war so it seems, perhaps, a bit presumptuous of me to comment on it. Still, in pursuit of my little project, I've had a go.

Understanding

I'm glad that I don't understand why men fight,
Why they kill, why they die;
Why in war every side claims right,
Claims truth, claims justice;
Proclaims the enemy to lie.
I'm glad that I don't understand why men hate,
Why they strive to justify
The carnage and the bloodshed they create,
And revel in and love
And which, eternally, they glorify.
I'm glad that I don't understand for then I too
Might be prepared to vilify
Those who hold a different point of view
Do not believe as I do
And must be, by that truth, much less than I.