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 once held summer concerts
But now they are disbanded
Sinewy trees stretch to the sky above
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 for it, 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?
When did a war save civilization?
When did the most uncivilized thing
That demented creatures ever devised
Ever bring a civilization?
Where are the monuments to those
Who lived in peace and died in peace
Who did not use a gun or bomb
But suffered long and labored hard
To build that civilization?
Those men died, too.
But the proud boys in their shiny helmets
Who march in the fools’ parade called war
They get all the credit
For saving civilization
We honor them, as we should.
But honor with them those who spent
Their lives and spent their days
To build that civilization
honor those men who lived full days
at work, and built this monument
So in our time trees can grow
And people may walk their dogs
And children run in circles in the sun
And live in peace—that is civilization.
