The Warrior Weeps

After the adrenaline had drained
And the noise of battle abated
Focus of the eyes widened
The spread of the aftermath comes into focus

And the ears open up to the sounds
Of the wailing mothers
And the orphaned children
Wandering aimlessly searching
Arms held out with twisted faces

And the sanity of normality torn asunder
As rubbles of homes fill the streets
With arid air pungent with death
The veil of morality shredded
There he stands

The warrior surveys his work
As the expanse of mortality narrows
And the currency of survival is to fled
Among the carnage the mangled bodies
Innocent and blameless
Seemingly sleeping in eternal bliss

The maddened skelter of women and children
A colourful painting
Of the numb forces of war
Theatres of war are painted with flesh and blood
Obliviously in harms way

With Lifeless eyes staring back
As mangled children assault the senses
The horrid smell of gunpowder
Arms stretched orphans approaching
A Young mother clasping her lifeless child
The scatter of lifeless brothers in arms

He shuts his eyes and turns his back
On the senseless price of war
And the human inside

weeps at the efficiency of his work

Andrew Okri