{"id":93011,"date":"2017-05-29T12:01:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T11:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=93011"},"modified":"2017-05-27T17:01:38","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T16:01:38","slug":"war-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/05\/war-4\/","title":{"rendered":"WAR"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Memorial Day USA \u2013 29 May 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been said,
\nThat has not already been written,
\nThat has not already been sung in song,
\nRecited in verse, shared in epic tales?<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been committed to screen,
\nIn iconic movies with legendary actors,
\nFighting and dying in glory amidst waving flags,
\nOr in heralded documentaries, carefully
\nEdited with photos, letters, poignant words
\nOf lament spoken, amid haunting tunes?<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been sculpted in marble,
\nPainted on canvases,
\nPhotographed in black and white,
\nAnd vivid color,
\nRevealing blood is red, bone is white,
\nDeath is endless.<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been inscribed in minds and bodies
\nOf soldiers who survived,
\nCivilians who endured,
\nPrisoners captive to trauma,
\nScars visible and invisible?<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been carved
\nOn ordered granite gravestones,
\nIn national cemeteries, honoring sacrifice,
\nTheir death veiled in shade and sunlight?<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been said about heroes and villains,
\nSoldiers and generals,
\nWarriors and misfits,
\nFreedom fighters and terrorists,
\nVictims and collateral damage,
\nApologies and reparations?<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war,
\nThat has not already been said about
\nGlorious and evil causes,
\nLusts for power and control,
\nAccess to wealth and resources,
\nMessianic responsibilities, moral duties,
\nDomination . . . ascendancy . . . \u00a0\u00a0Revenge?<\/p>\n

What more can be said of war
\nThat has not already been eulogized
\nOn fields of battle,
\nWhere lives were lost, minds seared,
\nAnd historians\u2019 crafts polished
\nWith the biased narratives of victors:
\nWaterloo, Hue, Fallujah?
\nThere is no winner in war!<\/p>\n

And why, if so much has been
\nSpoken, written, and engraved,
\nWhy do the lessons of war,
\nContinue to be ignored, denied, distorted?
\nAnd now \u00a0. . .\u00a0 Syria?
\n______________________________________<\/p>\n

I wrote this poem in the course of two days as I witnessed the tragedy of death and suffering in Syria, bewildered again and again, by the endless uses of so many death technologies. I was dismayed by a score of nations pursuing selfish interests, engaging in ethnic and tribal cleansing and genocide. We are living with endless war. Nothing more can be said about war<\/strong>. Violence begets violence, war<\/strong> begets war<\/strong>! No cries of noble responsibilities to protect and defend from either side are sufficient or warranted. They are merely part of the tactics, strategies, and policies sustaining war. Who benefits from war<\/strong>?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0This poem was first <\/em>published in TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a> on September 2, 2013. The poem is also included in two of volumes I have published: Marsella, A.J. (2014). Poems across time and place: A journey of heart and mind.<\/strong> Alpharetta, GA: Aurelius Press, Pages 63-65; Marsella, A.J. (2014). War, peace, justice: An unfinished tapestry.<\/strong> Alpharetta, GA: Aurelius Press, Pages 55-57. The poem may be circulated.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., a \u00a0member of the TRANSCEND Network<\/a>, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu. He is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 15 edited books, and more than 250 articles, chapters, book reviews, and popular pieces. He can be reached at marsella@hawaii.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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