SINCE

SINCE

I was cooing
and gurgling mightily

all those years ago
the day I was born

some few years after
the war to end
all wars
(part two)

so unbelievably lucky
to live in a world where
since then

no one
in Syria, Lebanon, Rwanda,
Angola, the Falklands, Iraq,
Eritrea, Algeria
Vietnam or Ukraine

has died or been wounded
or in any way
been inconvenienced by war

such as being
covered in white phosphorus, Sarin gas
or napalm
shredded by machine gun
disembowelled by rocket
burnt to a crisp
by hot cluster bomb

and me gurgling away happy
happy happy

stupidly convinced
I had been brought
into a world

where such things
would not could not

must never
be allowed to happen