War Poetry

The Great Mandala

So I told him that he'd better
Shut his mouth and do his job like a man
And he answered, Listen, Father, I will never kill another
He thinks he's better than his brother that died
What the hell does he think he's doing
To his father who brought him up right

Take your place on the great Mandala
As it moves through your brief moment of time
Win or lose now, you must choose now
And if you lose, you're only losing your life

Tell the jailer not to bother
With his meal of bread and water today
He is fasting till the killing's over
He thinks he's a prophet, but he's a coward
He's just playing a game, he can't do it, he can't change it
It's been going on for ten thousand years

Tell the people they are safe now: hunger stopped him
He lies still in his cell
Death has gagged his accusation
We are free now, we can kill now
We can hate now, we can end the world
We're not guilty: he was crazy
And it's been going on for ten thousand years

by Peter Yarrow

http://youtu.be/utHQaZL5m7E