Waiting

 Still Waiting 

How long does it take,

I wonder,

for a war to end?

What’s the rotation time,

I wonder,

for the  foxholes to fill in?

The only war that matters

is the one you fought in.

All warriors know this.

So many wars,

yet only one was the worst.

It’s the one you fought in.

Because it happened to you.

That year I went to war,

all thrumming energy,

rising above the cacophony,

struggling beneath the fear,

wishing mightily to be invisible,

knowing I had put myself there,

the trace elements of ego

so visible in God’s microscope.

Now, time enough remains

for service and becoming, 

but also for more,

pain, guilt, remorse, 

sometimes anger,

lessons still to master, 

before this life’s final peace

brings an end to war.