World at War

I

The world is at war
It has always been that way
And it will always be that way
Since life began
There has been a struggle
To exist and survive
We are all at war
Bacteria, fungi, insects,
Animals, humans, viruses,
Grasses, flowers, trees
The earth and other planets
The stars and the moons
The oceans and the rivers
All at war
The battles rage every day
There are moments of peace
Where wounds are treated
And the dead removed
We pause and reflect
But even then we fight
We fight back tears
We compare scars
We cannot forget
All those wars
From the past
We plan new wars
And dream of new battles
With bigger and better weapons
We think about how much stronger we are
And some pity the weak
Some look within
And find more war
Past, present, future
All at war
Parents with children
Parents with parents
Children with children
Families against families
Generations against generations
Rich against poor
Low against middle
Middle against upper
Low against low
High against high
All wanting more
All at war

II

Big business against small
Big against big
Small against small
All against all
The every day struggle
For money and gold
Oil and shares
For houses and cars
Ships and planes
Tanks and guns
Status and power
The economic war
The strategic war
The intelligence war
There's an oxymoron
Spy agencies at war
Aid agencies at war
Armies at war
Not only with other armies
But also with themselves
Armies with navies
And air forces
And Special Forces
Fighting within
For funding and power
Officers with troops
Generals with generals
Generals with politicians
Politicians with politicians
Voters against voters
All fighting for power
Bosses with workers
Farmers with banks
And local governments
Against state
Against federal
Parties against independents
Upper houses with lower houses
Upstairs against downstairs
Neighbours against neighbours
Men against women
Men against men
Women against women
Against transsexuals
And homosexuals
And bisexuals
And paedophiles
Prisoners against prisoners
Against wardens
Lawyers against lawyers
Barristers and solicitors
Judges against judges
Blue collar against white
Race against race
Rednecks against bluebloods
Boatpeople and tourists
All at war

III

Night and day
Struggling for territory
Over land and borders
Profits and taxes
Water and views
And locations
And parking spaces
And raging in traffic
Jostling for positions
And racing to win
To get there first
The raise
The promotion
The new car
The new suit
The new shoes
The bigger office
The travel
The allowances
The tickets to the game
To watch them all fighting
Screaming and yelling
To get the best seats
Or the corporate box
And God help anyone
That gets in the way
Of the spectacle in the arena
The war to watch the war
Among the players
Among the supporters
And the coaches
And the sponsors
Not much has changed
In thousands of years
Since the Ancient Greeks
And Romans
And all the others
The gladiators
And the slaves
And the kings
And the emperors
And the knights
And the peasants
And the ladies
And the servants
All at war
In one way or another

IV

Even the clergy
The priests and the high priests
The bishops who would be cardinals
And the cardinals who would be popes
The religious who preach peace and love
Yet practice hate and intolerance
And go to war
In the name of God
Those unholy crusades
Religion against religion
Catholics against Anglicans
Against Muslims
Against Hindus
And heretics
And witch hunts
By elders and statesmen
Poets against poets
Musicians against musicians
Painters against craftsmen
Skilled against unskilled
The intellectuals
And the fools
Often one and the same
The fat and the thin
The tall and the short
The hippies and the zealots
The spiritualists
And atheists
And agnostics
The quiet and the loud
The romantics
And the grouches
The beautiful
And the ugly
Those who care
And those who don't
The indigenous
And the immigrants
The city dwellers
And the country folk
The talkers
And the listeners
The writers
And the readers
All at war
With themselves
And with others

V

The famous who seek privacy
The nobodies who want to be someone
The voiceless who want to be heard
The sick who want to be cured
The loveless who want to be loved
The unpopular who want to be popular
The old who want to be young
The young who want to be older
The meek that lack self-esteem
The damaged
The broken
The torn
All the casualties of war
The constant never-ending
Relentless mess of war
The tiring degrading
Mental and physical battle
And it will never end
The newborn replace the dead
And who knows if death brings peace
Even death itself may just be yet another struggle
Like the journey from wake to sleep and dreams
And nightmares
And wake again
Even then there are more wars
Fears and joys
And battles to fight
Mountains to conquer
Flights and falls
Life is strange
And unexplainable
And meaning subjective
All I know or at least think is
The essence for me is survival
And that is a constant battle