Peace Fighter
by Denise Fuehrer Burnette
There is a war outside my door
For a while I closed my ears
Closed my eyes
Tried to pretend it was not there
But it did not go away
It grew louder and stronger
Until I could no longer sleep
Until it filled my dreams with horror
And then one day a bomb exploded on my home
And I could no longer pretend not to see
So I picked up my gun and I ran to the front line
To defend my home
To fight the war I hated
But something was wrong
A voice inside telling me no, stop fighting
But we’re losing, we’re losing
I cannot sit back anymore and pretend
I do not see this war
I can no longer close my eyes
To the war outside my door
Just then I looked across the horizon
And there I saw a wounded man
My enemy
Lying on the ground crying for help
Alone, Helpless, Afraid
I saw the fear in his eyes
I felt the pain in his heart
And just then it hit me
Like a bolt of lightning
We are all losing…every one of us
There is no winner in this war
There is no winner in any war
So I put down my gun and approached him slowly
Offering my hand
I lifted him carefully from the ground
Wrapped his wounds
And took him to my home to rest
And on that fateful night
I put away my gun forever
Knowing that if I want to fight for peace
I must stop fighting
And start loving.