The first victim of war is complexity.
Gone is the richness in our understanding of one another.
We are left as stick figures.
Power without Love.
We are separate from THEM –
all connection is gone.
We are different from THEM –
all commonality is gone.
As such, the language of war flows easily from our lips:
I HATE THEM.
THEY ARE VERMIN, RATS.
LET US SECEDE FROM THEM.
KILL THEM.
In years ahead –
Not now –
The poets and playwrights will bring them fully back to life,
Restore their complexity.
To even suggest it now is to risk being seen as THEM.