Let Peace Be...

Farm boys left the plow behind
Picked up a gun and went off to fight.
Landing on some far off beach, frightened
Falling, forever, before the fall of night.

Surgeons fighting desperately to save
A jagged, bleeding nearly shot-off limb.
Chaplains trying to keep souls nourished,
Saying prayers, softly; pleadingly sing a hymn

Nurses going from bed to bed
Trying to care for the wounded and dying.
Always with a smile on their faces,
No one needs to see them crying.

Astronauts fighting the world’s cold war
Lost in an instant in the capsule’s flames.
Others died in the sky, years later
Does anyone even remember their names?

Many wars have been fought by this country
Always, it seems, in the name of peace.
War declared on other countries, that’s true.
More wars fought here, to say the least.

Wars against more deadly foes
If loss of life is what we see.
War on poverty, inequality, ignorance
Disease and injustice, it seems to me.

Lives laid down in the name of freedom
Lives lost so that others might live
Lives lost to help the human race.
There is no more that one can give.

How can we ever repay those who died,
Giving the ultimate gift they had to give?
How can we honor their memory,
Except by the example that we live?

So let there be no more wars on this earth
No more death and dying needlessly
No more hurry to fight those battles
And please, Dear People, Let Peace Be.