Too many times have I have been tempted to cross the line

Of pink pinched and blistered flesh

The red sore scored and lined weal’s

That accompany the opium

Of raised and blooded battlefield cries

In that place of constant feud and ravage

The inner sanctum of the unrested

That you and I and they would call

A state of war

 

The shout and scream of blood and savage

Demanding death to all sundry man and beast

Who hold the sword and the bow

Where shield and mail are not enough

For this is the way

Or so we are taught

The way of men

Who through tides of time have not changed

Nor will they because this is their way

The way of man

 

Yet through all of this

Are those who refuse to fight and battle

To draw blood

To take another’s life

Who would step aside the creed

 Of forever death to all others

The ordinance of the bear and the lion

Sown into the very heart of he who would call himself man

It is with they and me and thy upon which

We can seek change

And offer the hand instead of the sword

So that peace can rest easily in each and every heart