WHAT PRICE - VICTORY

The grassy meadows roam o’er hill and dale

Parading unending without interruption;

And enveloping forests, though not conquering freely

The mossy vegetation carpeting the wood.

Loam-scented groves are sparsely scattered

They loan to the primeval tone of the landscape,

Soft-cushioning the earth to present a plush-like being,

To the otherwise brittle terrain…

Through the thick foliage of Nature’s gallery of trees

Old sol filters by day and the lunar planet by night.

The sun reflects on the beech’s shiny leaves,

The moon’s rays bounce up and down on the tulip.

Below this heavenly setting, a stream meanders by

Unassuming in bearing, but majestic for her size.

Though it takes the age-old path of least resistance

That theory withdrew not one iota from its regal flight.

It gurgled and spattered as if trying to break

The many boulders protruding their eroded heads

Above the current so on-rushingly spent

And ceaselessly colliding with the bank on its mission…

This gorgeous setting is one of endearment

And is envisioned endlessly in the minds of man

As the place to go back to, to make it a home

So the remaining life would take on double the erstwhile romantic appeal…

Some day their dreams will be realized,

Their homes will appear in less time than it takes

To write out the specifications of a “perfect home”

For that’s what they fight for, these monuments of strength.

Please, Lord, allow them to engender this bliss

When they arrive here for good and end the conflict

Such simplicity of purpose as this should not go unrealized

Reward them each, man and Nature, with ultimate success in reaching their goal.

This scene represents not a place of habitat,

But a typical satisfaction and comfort of peace on earth.

No struggle for life with fire and steel;

Just the innate desire of humans to exist in harmony with Nature, as such…

                              (ed)