An ode

What is war really about? Ego clashes between men of power?
Men have fought all along to prove their might. How egoistic? If they really believed in their might, why try to prove it? Understood that when evoked, one need to take steps about it. So fight one on one. Why rope in thousands as soldiers and expect all of them to believe in the same lines as you do? Who gives them the power to command? The one who does, how is his judgement justified? Are the soldiers trained in each country taught to hate the other country alongside their training in artillery?

Patriotism is it? Loyalty to one's country or loyalty to the person who occupies the seat as the highest official at that particular time? I came across this sonnet while exploring the net. Was stunned by the power of its simplicity.

when i was torn by war
i took a brush
immersed in death
and drew a window
on war’s wall
i opened it
searching for something
But i saw another war
and a mother
weaving a shroud
for the dead man
still in her womb.

By The Iraqi Poet Sinan Antoon