what is a
hero
after all

an accident of
circumstance
and
coincidence

being in the wrong
place
at a very
wrong time

this does not
diminish the
act
but rather
defines it

makes it
more
moving
and brave

rather than run
from
that place
where no hero
wants to
be

he stays
and
defends

often lying down
his own
life

neither for a
cause
nor a
flag
nor a
nation

not
for
principle
nor leaders spouting
platitudes
from
cozy offices
half a world
away

but for
love
alone
they become
valorous

devotion to that
poor bastard
beside him
in the
foxhole

the guy who
slaps him
when
he cries

this is for
whom
the hero
fights
and dies

so let there be no
mistake
nor praise
for any
but the actors

we do not celebrate
a cause
when we
consecrate the
heroes

we acknowledge love
where none would
otherwise
exist

and like it
or not

that means
heroes
have worn
blue
and gray

swastikas
turbans
and
stars of david

unsettling?

i don't think so