I feel maudlin today, from all the news of war,
such a waste of human craft we simply can't ignore.
Who counts the cost in real terms, without any disguise
we all know the lists of lives lost, hide so many cries.

For every man who lost his life, so many more were shattered,
with missing limbs and broken dreams amongst the debris splattered,
all around those hated IEDs that ever grow in numbers,
while back at home those in charge enjoy their nightly slumbers.

Who counts the cost and pays the price of all those injuries,
is it someone at the top of our national defence ministries?
I think perhaps they dare not look too closely at those facts,
so maybe it is the nurses, those who care in deeds not lax...

©Rhumour
June 2nd 2010