Steven Schroeder | a discourse on war

1

Every war is a war of choice,

but everyone
who chooses a war
says it is a war

of necessity.

2

Of necessity,
every war is a war

of words.

3

If a war is a war of necessity,
there is nothing to do but suffer it.

But every war is a war

of choice.

4

Every body count
counts some bodies,

not others.

5

Count them,
count all of them.

6

All turns
on what we mean
by “we,” what we think

must be possible.

7

If peace is possible
war must not be necessary.

It is politics, by all means,
and politics is a war of choice.

8

Never let the world forget
peace is an art of the possible,
a composition for the left hand.

It must be possible.

Chicago
6 March 2022