no remorse

I pass the thresholds of my peers rooms returning to my own. I heard loud chatter and annoyed complaints that the lecturer heavily emphasized "In the year of our Lord". Glad to know the lecture wasn't completely lost on my peers.

There was a reason he waited for you to stop whispering and chatting in the back.

There was no reason for you to continue.

There was a reason I yelled "Shut Up" from my cushy front row seat.

There was a reason he said it was good advice.



Did you sleep through the lecture? What part of World War One did you miss? Or are you so desensitized to the war of today that you cannot recognize horror when it shows its hellish grin? Can nothing move you beyond yourself?

I'll grant you, this is a special topic for me, so I won't be surprised to learn that the only two in the room on the verge of tears were the lecturer and myself. So what if he demands a little more respect for this lecture than what you're used to giving? Its not like 8:30 should be a novelty to anyone by now.

Thank you for eventually becoming silent. You almost seemed to be listening when he spoke of the sheer numbers. 5,500 a day. Don't talk to me of other wars. Listen. Listen to the men sleeping through bombing raids because they are so weary and utterly destroyed. Listening to the screams of Hell erupting from a man with no face. Listen to the soft whistle of chemical bombs that often as not found unfavorable winds and attacked their own men. Listen to the women's weeping being drowned by old men and Don Quioxte generals sending orders of patriotism and pride.

Listen to when he said everyone in the room would have been dead before 9AM.


Listen to the silence.