War Is Natural
To rise above the plane of earth
Where war continues since my birth,
I find that war is natural,
And in this world habitual.
It’s human nature, so it seems
And nature’s calling in those screams—
No scientist needs to figure it out
War’s natural, without a doubt—
As natural as it could be,
Just as a beehive in a tree,
Such facts are facts, misunderstood,
We must accept the bad with good.
War has gone on through history,
Get used to all the misery—
War will continue, when we die;
War’s natural, don’t ask me why.
Duality Prevails
War’s natural as death—
We’re dead before we take a breath,
No complaint, let me explain,
For pleasure, we must have some pain.
There’s opposites for a reason:
Hot and cold, and each its season;
Black and white and wrong and right;
Dark and light and day and night.
Without mentioning a name,
One in charge is playing games—
The way to stay is go away;
The stage is set, perform the play.
We cannot live unless we do not—
O what an intriguing plot!
It keeps us on the edges of seats;
It’s on, it’s off, then it repeats.
Mountains high and valleys deep,
In birth awake, in death we sleep,
Unconscious, unaware we’re gone—
Death the night and birth the dawn.
We can’t be happy without fear,
No one can laugh without a tear,
There can’t be love without some hate—
To wonder why’s a hopeless fate.
After fifty thousand miles and five years as a hitchhiker, living on the road and streets in towns and cities across America, David Paul Behrens followed with a career as an over the road dispatcher in the trucking industry. He is now retired and living in La Verne, California. His website is davidpaulbehrens.com.
I loved these David – cold, hard and beautiful – and for some reason they made me smile!
I enjoyed reading these …thoughtful and perceptive.
There is an uncomfortable wisdom running through these poems and which of course makes us consider our difficulty as a species. Well done and thank you.
Thank you!
Both pieces relay a somber truth in a very poetic voice. I enjoyed your meter.
E. V.
David, I agree with Beth that the meter works extremely well in these poems. If one of the primary measures of effective poetry is the degree to which we have cause to think, then both deserve top marks. Well done.
Thank you, Beth and David.
At the risk of sounding officious: I can’t resist suggesting that the 2nd line of the 1st poem would sit more comfortably if the words “war continues” were modified to “war’s continued” . . as in: Where war has continued since my birth. Or, at the risk of sounding insular: maybe it’s just a case of me not being aware of some of the disparities between american english-usage and british english-usage.
I like these poems: pithy, epigrammatic almost in their force. Very good writing – well done – and keep up the good work!
Thank you, Mr. Sale.