Ode To Francis Poem by RIC BASTASA

we live by this
great adage
that self-preservation
is the first law

this life
of humanity which wars
have attempted to
annihilate
have survived so far
for all those years

the warriors fight and
they all die
but life simply buries
itself only for a while

bacteria move and grow
viruses mutate
and we do not even know
what lurks there
in the depths of the
sea

after the war when
all those courageous
perish
the first thing you
hear
is the mother's cry

in the crib of all
ruins
another baby smiles....