A Poem for Peace

Emotionally detached
What do I know of war?
What am I but an American student
Enclosed by walls that tell me
Only what rumors know
But I'm here
So far departed from any physical consequences
Of war
Here in this place--
I don't see the blood
The only thing I might glimpse
Is a tearful parent or friend
Whose ears have recently been borne news
Of death
And can I say I understand?
The cries I hear echo no
For they will never be my own
Blind faith in leaders we don't know
Leading us into battlefields
Where it doesn't matter who is who
Because we all suffer in war
It doesn't matter who dies
The only point is that somebody does
Breaking bones,
As we break down the possibilities of peace
I can look up to the sky and behold--
The sun and the moon are the same
The same sun and moon that
Dying soldiers and criminals and children see
Lying on the ground as their life pours out
We share all the celestial spheres that exist
We share the world
And we share the ties of war
And it pains me to have to ask,
But I want to know--
Will we ever share some peace?