almost done

       almost finished

they say just

      another few years

                and it’s over

    we’ll pull out

           it’s been too long

we can count

        the years even the deaths

at least ours

       but we can’t count

            the arms and legs

    and how about

              the hands or feet

how about the eyes

              and of the souls

     we know nothing



in the future

           before the next war

           (for there will be another)

let us be civilized

     let us start

              by setting limits

/the uproar begins/



how many years

        or should we count

                the dollars spent

decide going in

       how many arms

              how many legs

is a hand the same

         as an arm?

               are a foot and leg equal?

we must invent

            a mathematics of war

what equals what



is a death of theirs

           equal to a death of ours?

let us quantify equality

           establish how to equate

the souls and the bodies

          the blank stares and

                   the parentless children



once decided

   could we agree

               that in each subsequent

              (for there will be subsequent)

we reduce the 

      agreed upon total

           and then reduce, and reduce,

                 and reduce, and……



then mankind could work

on being human



11/28/2010
Author's Note: I've not convinced myself yet that this is finished.

Posted on 12/01/2010
Copyright © 2024 George Hoerner

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Rhiannon Jones on 12/01/10 at 02:23 AM
I don't know if it is finished, George....but I do know that this poem is exceptional.  It really struck me.
Posted by Rhiannon Jones on 12/01/10 at 02:23 AM
And the form on the page....really works well.
Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 12/01/10 at 04:08 AM
I like the dangling feeling to the structure of this, the math of what equals what, the dismemberment that is not hidden. Very thought provoking. Thank you.
Posted by Ken Harnisch on 12/01/10 at 01:16 PM
Awesome, George...hits you in the gut without being a polemic..just a simple, straight, unsentimental look at the cost of war that we seldom think about when we send our children to fight old men's wars. The stanzas on the value of an arm or leg are simply priceless. 
Posted by Charlie Morgan on 12/01/10 at 02:14 PM
...george, like you say,'there will be another' sooo it is not finished, per se...but, yet a delight perspective on human values.
Posted by Paul Lastovica on 12/03/10 at 10:48 PM
It's so ingrained in our way of life, war, it's staggering to imagine a world without it.  Seems there's always another one just waiting to break upon our backs.  All the branches of service turned me away - failed their hearing tests - any one of those appendages or lives could have been mine had things turned a different direction.  Peace of bodies, minds, and nations ought to be on all world leader's agenda.  Much here to chew.
Posted by Jasmine Sword-Mann on 12/04/10 at 07:07 AM
"we must invent a mathematics of war what equals what" This is so very true. A perfect poem. And not done. No. Not until you can reduce every line; not until you can stop making statements such as these. Bravo, good sir.
Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 01/01/11 at 09:02 PM
Finished or not, an excellent poem George; much truth and wisdom here. Sad to think there will always be another war...the price of freedom. And although Canada opted out of going into Iraq, we still have troops in Afghanistan, many of whom have suffered from the maiming you mention, or worse didn't...won't make it home alive. 
Posted by Joan Serratelli on 01/03/11 at 01:48 AM
My dad was a WW11 vet who loothed war- it changed him. To him there were no heros, just causalities. This piece made me think of my Dad, He would havee framed this. An excellent write!
Posted by Johnny Crimson on 01/03/11 at 06:46 PM
"I do not know with which manner of weapons will be used in WW3  yet I do know that WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones." -Albert Einstein
Posted by Glenn Currier on 02/13/11 at 03:09 PM
One of the many things I like about this poem is the way it focuses on our humanity while at the same time pointing to the futility of actually counting all the costs.  This is so poignant and yet I feel a sense of hope reading it because maybe SOMEONE will read it who will actually be involved in deciding whether we will have our next war.  This one need to be published in Newsweek or some place where many more can read it.  It might stir the little poet inside of the politicians and bureaucrats...  There is always a small possibility... and bunches of small possibilities can add up to something big.  Thanks, George.
Posted by Morgan D Hafele on 03/01/11 at 03:40 PM
i suppose being a pessimist, i imagine that war is just humans being humans. i like the idea of them becoming smaller and smaller until they are no more, but i have a sneaking suspicion that the opposite will happen before it gets better. finished or not it is still quite powerful.