• What they don’t tell you in school
    Is that the glare from a rocket isn’t red
    It is white
    The kind of white one only sees against black
    It’s never mentioned that bombs don’t burst in the air
    They detonate on contact
    Shattering everything at the sight of impact
    Collision is very necessary
    Collusion is recommended
    Nobody sees fit to say
    That stars mark the presence of night
    Not the absence of day
    And that in the rubble
    Men are stripped with burns
    Like tigers in cages
    Awaiting their turn to shine
    To light the way to glory
    It has never been taught
    That flags are not captured
    Merely relocated
    Transported to someplace with a better vantage point
    Away from the ramparts
    Which only ever serve to obscure vision
    The guns are spoken of
    But not the sound of one’s operation
    The execution of its purpose
    Not the bang and flash of the barrel
    The crunch of an adolescent skull meeting lead
    There are no lessons on respect for the dead
    Only pamphlets passed out with instructions for burial
    Pictures of proper salutes
    There exists no professor who instructs how to see
    When the dull glow of dawn won’t suffice
    Loyalty is expected, but never defined
    The skills of soldiers identified, but never refined
    In the midst of the war
    When there’s more than just yourself to save
    Nobody teaches you how to be free
    Nobody teaches you how to be brave