A Sonnet for Veteran's Day

For Veteran's Day I am posting the following sonnet. It is one of a corona of linked sonnets I have written on seven of the traditional Stations of the Cross. When the women of Jerusalem weep for Jesus (Luke 23.27-31), he calls on them to weep for themselves and their society. It is my belief that Our Lord speaks, on one level, to the specific political situation of the moment: Israel's rejection of Jesus' non-violent gospel will lead to military revolt with the destruction and slaughter that follow. So today, I offer this poem as a tribute to those valiant men and women who give their lives for my protection, as a prayer that a day will come when that sacrifice, at least in that form, will no longer be necessary. Of course, laying down our arms will mean taking up our crosses.

Christ Addresses the Women of Jerusalem

He turns our tears to those for whom he weeps:

The victims of war’s purple testament.

A woman’s tenderness of heart he seeks

To see the price of power, and lament.

The tree he bears, though dead, is green with hope

Of life lived out in meek humility

And violence overcome by love’s wide scope,

And ending of the sword’s futility.

We weep beside the way of Calvary’s cross,

Yet set aside our crosses for the way

Of swords drawn to revenge our pain and loss,

And yet more swords in yet a drier day.

‘Neath our false tears he falls yet full of hope

And naked waits for hate’s uplifting stroke.