Whether You’ve Ever Acted in It

Wars invent so many things,
Introduce so many things,
But in their trajectories

They’re weirdly uninventive.
Past wars will be fought again.
Yesterday’s lessons learned serve

As today’s brutal mistakes.
There will be atrocities,
Ten thousand unintended

Consequences. The horrors
Of any war will linger
As the simmering anger

That will cook up the sequel
Or several more, even if
It’s centuries since the last.

Every story knows the script.
Movies aren’t far off either—
They’ve got war’s skeleton key,

Basic as any hero,
Any lover’s triangle.
War is a story you know.