Fought for naught

No one wants to say it aloud that
America’s ill-fated imperialist wars
have all been fought for naught.

Lead under pretense with pernicious plans
and malevolent lies into catastrophic conflicts
squandering soldiers’ lives and limbs.

Politicians parlay patriotic palaver into profits for
mercenary military manufacturers who
compensate with campaign contributions.

No one wants to talk about slaughtered civilian
fathers, mothers, brothers and sons whose survivors
now hate us for the deaths of their loved ones.

Shattered lives and traumatized brains
cannot be repaired with political platitudes.
Human pain properly pre-empts profitability.

No one wants to discuss the debilitating debt
our children and grandchildren are inheriting
to feed America’s addiction to military madness.

No one wants to confess complicity.

No one.