Five Years After

The bullets still soar

Past my ducked head.

The bombs still explode

All around my bed.

It's been five years now

Since the end of the war.

But, to me, its not yet over;

It's raging on outside my door.

Everything I see and hear

Reminds me that I'm still alive,

That I should praise the heavenly skies.

But, so many others didn't survive.

What is war, anyway?

Did it have anything to do with me?

I did the fighting; I risked my life.

For what? I just don't see…

A quarrel over land,

Petty stuff about religion,

Political prosperity

That cost the lives of millions.

To think – to think that

All of this blood, this pain

Could have been prevented,

May have been in vain.

There will always be war.

This "peace" won't last,

But I refuse to be a part

Of reruns of the past.

The children are laughing

As they run around.

I smile at their innocence

And the joy that I've found.

It doesn't matter, I've decided,

Who's right or wrong,

But that the world can be free

To sing every song.

This keeps me going

On until I find

A reason for happiness

And not looking behind.