D.C. Monument

Somewhere off the sidewalk
On the mall, there is a monument
A white slab of stone
With searching columns overhead
And a marble dome above
And on the dome, these words:
“The Great War to Save Civilization.”

No one much goes by there
Bands That once
held summer concerts now disbanded
Sinewy trees stretch skyward
Where people walk their dogs
And children run in circles
And beneath their mossy sides--
And few if any stop to read and ask
Which war? Which civilization?

Men died in the war; that we know.
Men lay down in the mud and mixed
Their blood in the thirsty ground
Mothers lost their children, children lost fathers
In that war, and now we ask:
Which war? Which civilization?

Whenever did war save civilization?
When did that most horrific thing
That ever spewed from hell
bring salvation to any civilization?

Why are there no monuments to those
Who lived in peace and worked in peace
And did not use a gun or bomb
To break another’s body,
But suffered long and labored hard
To build that civilization?

Those men deserve their monuments, too.
But the proud boys in their shiny helmets
Who march in the fools’ parade called war
They always get the credit
For saving civilization

We do honor those proud young boys
As we know we should,
Who stand on the front lines
And lift their guns.
But we should honor even more
Those whose arms and legs and minds
Spent their blood and backbone
Building that civilization

Let us honor those who worked
Those long, full days of toil
To build a monuement of stone
So in our time the trees would grow
And people would walk their dogs
And children run in circles in the sun
And live in peace—
So that when the guns grow still
There would be something left.
They are the ones that we must say
Have saved our civilization.