THE SILENCE OF LOVE

love does not target anyone’s Czars
Its wars are not won by repeating a name
Religions don’t claim anyone’s souls
And armies don’t goosestep for glory in vain

No loving hearts dote on heroes or fame
Greedy kings win by inflicting their pain
Our warriors aren’t always remembered for long
And millions aren’t moved by one fraudulent song

Marx, Mao, Stalin, the Czar and Kahn
Will somehow, someday, be nothing but gone
MCarthers and Pattons will all come and go
But when flowers are laid, their graves will not know

The House, nor the senate, nor Presidents win
Since if none of them loves they only can sin
And political causes will never come close
To the silence of love that helps us the most

No poets seek glory
Nobel Laureates too
And a students pencil when just existential
Writes bravely of something that benefits few

No (one true believers)
Nor non-secular fools
None of them knows that they are just tools
Commanded by those whom they trust to lay down the rules

When the end brings us home there are no final exams
Nor poems nor wishes, that will let us still stand
No heads, no help, nor love for the dead
While the wind won’t remember what anyone said

Love’s not an ideological, religious, or political game
Not the continuance of anyone's vainglorious name
It can only be found when we leave it alone
Yet all the world’s lovers know from whence it all came

So, let’s not take pride in the fullest of mouths
The slickest tongues or most passionate vows
Cause the world’s slow turning will mindlessly end
Unless the silence of love speaks loudly again

12/22/2018
Peter W. Johnson