At the end of the News Hour
silent faces appear,
one after the other.
Mostly men in their 20s,
with a sprinkling of those 19,
while others are as old as their 50s.
These, considered
unfit to fight in previous wars,
now are so much cannon fodder.
The faces of the younger ones
are stern in their new uniforms.
With a white hat so large,
one does not smile with the weight
of so much history.
The older ones smile more amiably,
a grandfather?s smile.
They die in vain
in a war without cause,
as promises, echoed from an earlier conflict,
are repeated by talking heads.