What happens to the innocent
Born on the wrong side of a war
When families disintegrate
While they manage within their law
The little ones know only – the reality they are in
Shaped by those who care for them
While values grow in increments
They are person’s without sin
The little ones mature
With the challenges of life
Accumulating memories
Of happiness and strife
The child who was the victim
Of the war that brought great shame
Grows up to see things differently
From those who take no blame
The question for humanity
Is to reflect on what we know
To demonize the innocent
Is shame that many sow
The ignorance and self-righteousness
Who moralize and blame
By degrading those caught up in war
By treating all the same
Makes mockery of history
Defrauding our records they tell
With judgements of the innocent
Too vulnerable to rebel
It takes a higher consciousness
To reflect on what is true
To go beyond self interest
To go deep into review
The complexity of history
And peace for all of us
Is simplified when malice
Is replaced to probe for cause
The power of the makers
Of civil strife and abuse
Can only be diminished
When we recognize their use
