Talk not of war this day,
Lest it be with hallowed reverence,
For lives lost,
And courage,
And the sacrifice of those
Who hearken to the call.

Stand not in judgment,
You who follow causes;
Or, perhaps,
You will choose your cause more precisely,
If not to the detriment of your countrymen,
Who observe with wonder,
Valor,
Defiled by treacherous parsimony.

The common man knows not
The heart of the soldier,
For the sacrifice of daring youth,
Is uncommon
Beyond verse.
But such is the root effect of pure love,
That forces men of freedom,
To consider selfless forfeiture of body,
To sustain the soul of sovereignty

Do not trivialize that
Of most profound consequence.
And do not suggest that civil unrest
Is measured by the same instrument
As gallantry.
For never in the course of man,
Shall any heart be more true
Than the heart of a hero;
Laid willingly on the altar of love,
A gift without score or recompense,
And of which,
There is none greater in the cosmos.