War and Peace of a Kind, A Poem Celebrating Armistice Day

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls
This is a story of war and peace
This is how the story unfurls
It shows that tensions increase

When war seems inevitable
Like two kids quarreling they push and shove each other
Threaten the unthinkable
And finally hit, one and then the other

Blood is drawn then a death occurs,
Armies maneuver on the border
A ship is sunk as false hope of victory lures
One party into an invasion that destroys international order

Alliances are invoked and the war begins
Invasions and counter invasions are inevitable moves
But to what ends?
Only wholesale death and destruction, nothing resolves

Finally the battle lines are drawn
Permanently or so it seems
Each launches massive attacks, bloody and over blown
Millions die in a stalemate that destroys dreams

Of victory and conquest, weakens the will to fight
Blood and treasure are exhausted,
Rumors of peace see the light
With the negotiations he is entrusted

The leader of a neutral country, loved and respected
Has the stature to bring the enemies to the negotiating table
As first move he calls for an armistice to be enacted
Bargaining begins; neither side is willing or able

To make the concessions necessary for peace
Exhausted and war weary oppressed populations rebel
Hopes of victory and peace increase
But to no avail

A neutral country enters the war,
With more troops in the trenches
Hopes of victory soar

As the new ally brings fresh resources

But the bloody conflict is unabated
Stalemate ensues, ground won or lost, inch by bloody inches
Finally one party sues, peace is entreated
The 11th hour, 11th day, 11th month, cease fire in trenches

In the ensuing peace treaty negotiations
Losers punished, stripped of colonial possessions
Their armed forces gutted, assessed massive reparations
Leaving them embittered, beginning next war preparations

Self-determination promised to subject minorities
A shining hope for world peace, the League of Nations is a plan
All because of President Wilsons entreaties
America’s failure to ratify left these promises in history’s dust pan

Wilson dies a failed and broken man
He is one of the heroes of a thousand faces
His virtues, courage for world justice to stand
Wisdom to know that peace must erase war’s traces