Instant Fertilizer...

"We need a miracle like that of the first Christmas of the first world war -- only it needs be deeper and more lasting. Otherwise our leaders, while saying "nobody wants war",  will take us -- not to world war three, mind you, but terrible times and ultimate endless war..."

[That is how the unknown poet of the Third Galaxy introduced one of his later sonnettes]

Since the very dawn of history,
dreams of glory violently achieved
have plagued the human race -- it's nothing new!

We fought for land, for gold, for God, for "Truth"!
Is there any cause for which we have not been bled?

If you count the "heroes, I will count the dead
and match you many more than a thousand fold!

In olden, times when slaves were sold for gold,
greed tended to temper the lust for blood, you know,
-- dead bodies are of value only to wild dogs and crows!

Today, we're supposedly civilized,
but have we really gotten all that wiser
with our bombs that can take a million lives
and turn them all into instant fertilizer?