War Is Not A Cosmetic

WAR IS NOT A COSMETIC

War is not a cosmetic.
It cannot hide the blemishes of weak policies
Of pock holes and starvation,
Either mind or body.

War is not a cosmetic.
It cannot place a mask on rotting morals,
Over smiling teeth
Onto hidden agendas.

War is not a cosmetic.
Ashes are not powder
Drifting over upturned childrens’ faces.
Hollow, shadowed eyes see clearly what lurks.
Smears of red decorate the cheeks of the fallen.

They are not a cosmetic.

by Eve Ehrenberg Feldman