The Empty Victory

Years have passed by
And empires rise and fall
Hope driven by our anger
As we push our enemies to the wall
Nine days and nights
The fight rages on
Never hearing an enemy speak
Just pulling the trigger until they're gone
No one pretends to enjoy it
No one pretends they're right
No one wants to be here
And yet we still fight
Nine more days, nine more nights
Embedded to our minds
Still the enemy comes at us
Crashing at our lines
And when the fighting finally stops
And the smoke settles on the ground
We walk up to our slaughtered foe
And glimpse what we have found
The body limp and small
The blood pool surrounded
A child struck in combat
As our troops are confounded
The war we fought for valor
The lives we took in haste
Weren't worth the loss of humanity
Or the blows to the human race
No one will walk away from this
Without a thought of regret
Our enemy fought and died
And no one is better for it
So as we start their graves
To give them their proper lay
The radio sparks up
And we can hear our commanders say
"You've all done well out there"
"To claim this land in our name"
"But more of you is needed"
"Before we can end this campaign"
"So grab up your rifles men"
"And never look back"
"For what happened on this day today"
"Is not part of the next attack"
We stand there for a moment
Listening to them speak
They never know what to say
Not wanting to look weak
And finally we turn it off
Realizing neither side has won
Not one man picked up his rifle
We're all in prayer for what we've done