We are shaped by war

Even if we have never 

Fought a battle

Or met

Someone who has

The grandfather you

Never knew

Shapes you 

In his absence

pulsing out the suffering

He saw

Across time

When he killed in the sun

Achilles did not know

When Patroclus died

He found out

What his glory was

Blood spilling

Only pooling in the sand

Unmoving

Bring neither friendship

Nor grace to him

War is the main character

In all our stories

Even if we never see its name

Written in the tale

Gene G. McLaughlin 2026