The Day My Country Went to War

The day my country went to war,

I took my family out to dinner.

My son only had eyes for his tater-tots

And cared for nothing beyond them.

He knew nothing about his compatriots

Up in arms across the sea

Wondering where their father went

And if they’ll ever taste again.

I tried to ignore the burger juice

Dripping down my chin and onto my plate

Like blood on sandy soil,

But it began to overflow onto the table

And my conscience.

I envied him.

The day my country went to war,

When we arrived at our intact home,

Unscarred by ash and bomb fire,

I was stopped by a nice young man

With a canvas hat and a clipboard.

He asked me if I thought

Our country was headed in the right direction.

My breath was taken from me

As through the peaceful chirping of the birds

The voices began to call to me:

From the muddy fields of Agincourt

To the shores of the Rubicon,

The hill at Thermopylae

And the beaches of Normandy,

The smoking heights of London

And the lapping waves of the Delaware;

Caesar, Genghis, Eisenhower -

The day my country went to war,

I longed to do what Jesus did,

To break bread lifted to Heaven

And hand out burgers to all

And bless the tater tots

And send them out to those in rank

And those in the simple villages

And tell them all is well

And that blessed are those who mourn

And to shut their eyes in peace -

“When you hear of wars, and rumors of wars…”

What of the war of the sluggard,

The distracted, the satiated,

The cursed and blaspheming comfortable?

The day my country went to war,

I knew then I was damned.

And I turned to the man and said,

“We won’t know for another two-hundred years,

Won’t we?”