I imagined the cinema
in all of its violence
taught the secret to being cool.
To hold a gun,
to pull its trigger:
such things were done
by characters we esteemed.
Men had guns,
women were rescued,
wars were fought and won,
but it was all a vicious lie.
The gun could make you a murderer,
not some action hero.
How much violence do we need,
before we all collapse in a heap?
A heap of bloodshed,
stupidity, and violence.
I believe it's called war.
While some are forced to fight,
there is no coolness in it;
there is no glory,
only the dead bodies of the enemy,
their mothers' tears,
and the graves in which they are interred.