Do you feel the fear tonight,
Feel the evil among us.  

This veteran knows -
War.
I've been to that place and back;
tasted it, felt it, seen it,
heard it, smelt it,
lived the fear,
rejoiced the staying alive.
War is about killing and dying.
War is about death.  

Do you watch like me tonight,
appalled yet enthralled.  

Appalled
as evil once again
stalks the world, 
Saddam and Bush,
Bush and Saddam,
Lovers
locked in an embrace,
of death and destruction.  

Enthralled 
as a bystander
at this defining moment
of the new century, 
and new millenium;
at this dance of evil,
that threatens
to engulf us all;
powerless to act,
except to add our voices
to the millions
of unlistened voices.  

Do you smell war tonight,
Feel it heavy on your breast.  

The warrior knows well
that war is about killing and dying.
Fine sounding words
do not hide that truth.
Honour and duty,
patriotism and moral imperative,
are but self deluding veils
drawn across the reality
of killing and dying;
shielding the collective conscience
from the abject madness.  

Do you smell war tonight,
Feel it heavy on your breast.  

Killing and dying.
Dying and killing.
Killing and dying.
War is Death.
And war is Evil.  

And they walk among us tonight.

© March 2003, Ross Nepia Himona