what will you do after the war?

so what will you do after

the war?

i ask the young man burying

a land mine

in a school yard.

what do you mean? he says.

there is no after,

no before,

we are always at war with them.

they hate us,

we hate them.

it is bad blood for centuries.

but what if the bombing stopped,

what if the killing,

and the slaughter

ended?

what if one side stopped

and said enough?

no, he says,

that would make meaningless

of all the ones that

have died before.

what will they have they died

for if there is

no more killing, no more revenge,

no more war?

but what if, what if it ended.

what would you do with your life?

i don't know, he says,

sharpening his bayonet.

i like to cook,

maybe i would make bread,

i love to bake bread,

maybe i would

have a small cafe

and serve wine.

people could come and read

books and talk.

all day and all night.

maybe we could laugh

and talk about our children.

that would be nice.