Look away, look away…

Inspired by a song from Five Finger Punch

Dancing eyes, shining and bright

Heed drum beats call and be our might

Run fast and sure and strive to learn

Be forged a weapon, ‘gainst evil to turn

A world far from home to fight the good fight

So we may stand proudly in our might

Twas dark, heinous deeds needed doing

For the battle ahead was his humanity’s undoing

We taught him well how to deal death

‘Pon far foreign soil, baptized in bloodbath

Look away, look away…

Turn a blind eye…

Don’t remind us of the monstrous deeds needed

Don’t make us thankful the call you heeded

Homeward bound now the battle is done

Invisible stains…what victory won?

He fought, yet he lived to come home

An uncomfortable reflection so loathsome

Dead heroes came home to honor and mourn

Warriors return without fanfare’s horn

No shining bright and dancing eyes

In his countenance now only sadness lies

Haunted now in his deepest soul

Betrayed by what patriots still extol

Look away, look away…

Turn a blind eye…

Don’t remind us of the monstrous deeds needed

Don’t make us thankful the call you heeded

Turn aside, refuse to see

There he sits, lost… lost in the lee

We sent him on to man-made hell

Praised him for monstrous death done well

Turn now from his ravaged visage

Don’t look upon that morbid grimace

The deed has been done and forgotten

Don’t remind us what the patriot’s begotten 

We sent him on, made him the warrior

To stride the chasm, to stand the furor

Look away, look away…

Turn a blind eye…

Don’t remind us of the monstrous deeds needed

Don’t make us thankful the call you heeded

Stood strong, stood tall, fought the battle

Watched compatriots fall, heard their death rattle

He broke down the door, meted out terror

Became in our name the dark horror

Looked the enemy in the eye and gave them death

Watched them fall, take their last breath

He believed in the right of our glorious cause

And we scarce knew a moment’s pause

He walked as darkness in a human shell

The wrong side of heaven, the righteous side of hell

Look away, look away…

Turn a blind eye…

Don’t remind us of the monstrous deeds needed

Don’t make us thankful the call you heeded

by D. Denise Dianaty

Reviews

[Briana O'Connor]

Such truth expressed so emphatically. The pain one ignores can not be ignored through your words. Any good hearted soul can resonate with how we look the other way as men and women sacrifice lives to fight battles that shouldn't have begun in the first place. Beautiful write. Thank you for sharing.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. It's true. A dead hero is easy to honor. Living heroes are inconvenient because they remind us what we made them become for our ideals.

[Briana O'Connor]

I agree. I strongly detest the way we treat our veterans. I don't know if your from america or not, but I'm sure it's the same everywhere. People just have no respect for those who fight our battles.

[MomzillaNC]

I'm American, from NC. And, yes, it's disgraceful.

[Briana O'Connor]

My dream was once to be in the air force. I was denied because for medical reasons, but now that I've grown up I'm glad that I didn't get accepted, because I'm sure it would have been too traumatizing for my mental capacity to handle! I just love the people who go out of their way to protect their fellow beings. I wish I was that brave!

[MomzillaNC]

You don't have to join the military to be that brave. There are innumerable ways to do that in your own community.

[Briana O'Connor]

Very true. I love volunteering and going to schools to help out. Don't know if that's considered bravery but I do try my best to help when I can.

[MomzillaNC]

It takes true courage to think outside our own skins… it takes heroism to actually take action to make things better for even one person.

[Lyn Anderson]

This is powerful. Often, anti war equates with anti soldier, yet, I can easily separate the two in my mind. Here, there is a "white poppy" movement to take away from the poppies on remembrance day, and negate the sacrifices of the soldiers. Honour the dead, yes, but honour the living too, and railing against war does not mean throwing the veterans under the bus.

[MomzillaNC]

Thanks. I agree. We should be honoring the living. But, we'd rather honor the dead; it's easy and abstract. The living are a present reminder of the ugliness we demanded in the name of our high ideals. There are just too many living heroes lost and losing themselves all the time; and society too often turns a blind eye to them until it's too late… until they too have become dead heroes.

[Travis "Phoenix" Caldwe..]

It is funny how music can inspire such great poetry. This makes me think of a friend who came home from afghanistan with PTSD and he told me stories of things he had done. It makes me think of what men go and fight for in war, what is lost, and how it is very tough to be the same.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you for the read. The thing that's always struck me is how dead heroes are venerated; but, we want our living heroes to remain out sight and out of mind -- they are an inconvenient reminder: I can't help but wonder how we can forget that we sent them off to deliver our ideals, and that they had to be made monsters to carry out the battles on our behalf.

[Travis "Phoenix" Caldwell]

Look up a band called Sabaton. Their latest album, Heroes, honors the war heroes of the past, from the movie star/war hero Audie Murphy to the German ace who, for humanitarian reasons, escorted his enemy to their airspace when he seen how wounded and helpless they was.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I'll look them up sometime. I am familiar with the Audie Murphy story. His exploits, and the story of Noor Inayat-Khan are two of the most compelling WWII histories I've ever read.