Pursuit of Peace
A Collaborative Effort With Anto Rinish
The lethal swarm of iron-clad projectiles came more through bad diplomacy
Than it would ever have come from willing fingers on triggers;
The chain tore through the no man’s land in lightning fallacy,
Churning the flesh and bones of the once-Tiggers.
For in war is a man resentful of moral venom made
To pursue uncharacteristically the tyrant norms;
Although in time will the blood-split bade
Goodwill be sought, there will be a lot who’ve lost pertinent forms.
Balance of power between countries is the natural feint –
While safe-side yet unacceptable diplomacy it is;
And, as the men of no vengeance, with blood, taint
The land, there is no such thing as bliss.
And war, it is to vie
As much with God as with man.
Mundane it may be when lives go by,
But retractable it will be, if only goodness can.
And they say, “If you wish for peace, prepare for war.”
Yet undeniably brutal I find it —
More in this solid piece of wild land,
Where between trees lie the vanquished
Who on any other day, given, would have
Repeatedly begged on their knees to be spared and
Left without harm and mutilation —
To be made to kill a man without personal vengeance.
The honor and the valor as that of a man with crass nerve
Embedded in the system of his intrepid instincts,
May give the man pride in being the monopoly of death.
But seldom does one understand
That between killing and being killed,
Lies the thin line of wisdom
Where one can decide to patronage
A different kind of patronage;
One that accepts defeat, even if that means sparing –
Although the ones who deserve to be spared.
There is little palatable in knowing that something antagonistic
That could be avoided had been let loose
By the demands of the few doctrines
Any man could have erred in.
And this combatant stands before me in the trench,
Not wielding any form of weaponry.
And I choose to differ.
When absolute power lies in one’s hands, and yet one wishes to differ,
Then the difference becomes the best kind of difference there ever can be.
I am not a soldier, but they come for me —
Wanting me to fight a battle that was lost many years ago.
I search for peace clouding the stillness of blown off limbs in the distance
Of foreign lands.
Babies wailing at the top of their lungs, coughing up years of disturbance
Hanging on the tip of their underdeveloped tongues.
Who will hear their cries?
To honor my country is to be willing to die
In Vain —
Holding nothing but unnecessary pain that knows not
From whence it came.
World — we have a problem that is not easy to solve,
However, masters of disguise will work their hardest to
Design wizardry deep enough to fool geniuses.
Stepping stones and drawing boards, let’s pull them out
And learn our lessons.
Dying a death continuously for a cause we have forgotten.
They shove guns in the hands of those not old enough
To count — then say, “they’ll be ready one day.”
But, “one day” is now and we are running away in fear from
Brigades meant to protect us
And losing our lives for denying some insane man’s war.
We are standing in sinking sand, our legs, offered to the devil’s grip —
Our only chance of survival is to band together for peace.
Who’s more willing to gain it?
Us or them?
Anto and I first collaborated on September 11, 2016. Anto is the reason why I do Young Minds of Medium. He (and, Anto, correct me if I am wrong) came to me and he said, “Tre, I am not a big man on Medium. No one notices me. Can you help me?” This was and still is a no brainer for me, especially for these young ones who have so much to say. Thus, he was the first young one regarding collaborations and it continued on from there. Anto is beyond words, the sweetest young man and he recently passed his board exams with flying colors. There is no doubt in my mind that he will do GREAT things in this world. Zev, you have been patient, now, if you don’t mind, please get ready.
