Peace At A Price

Watching a man wash a window for a living
I feel like he must be wallowing in self pity
Or at least I know that I would be
If I ever had the misfortune of being him
But to my surprise he seemed to have pride
In the things that he did, no matter, how insignificant

I turned on my TV to watch the soldiers
And be told peace comes at a price
Well what if I don't want to pay
What if I'm not ready to say that
Someone elses son can go and hold a gun
To give me my safety

Bought a newspaper so that I could read
On the latest ways to get depressed
It seems like a qualification for an article
Is to make everyone want to be dead
I'm guessing the undertaker and the editor
Are friends who have discussed their business
Over drinks

Sat myself down in my desk
So that maybe I could learn something
And ease the restlessness of being uninformed
I watched all the other students in their uniforms
And felt so out of place, being the same

Pretending is still pretending no matter how hard you try
And being dead is being dead no matter how you die
This is why we make ourselves live inside these lies
If only to shield us from the difference between what we are
And our dreams

Author's Note

Unmodified, unedited, typed as it flows.

Reviews

[Cheryl J. Turner]

Powerful words and so very true. Wonderfully written.