Corporeal

The difference between corporal and corporeal is one letter

Encapsulating the physical form of a rank that doesn’t feel tangible

A distant relative, the text on the page of a history book, an item of the past

Most of us know nothing about war, and we don’t want to learn

We scroll past tragedy on the daily, avoiding a steady bombardment of information

Turning down the radio at any sign of conflict

We are given the option to change the channel and avoid inevitable anxiety

There is no obligation to take part

Silence is steady on this side of the world

The rattle of the train is nothing like gunfire, and no sirens warn for planes

Basements contain a surplus of abandoned luxuries

There is no need to prepare for something that won’t come

Outside our idyllic bubble there is unimaginable grief

Fear engrained like shrapnel, always on high alert

Relics of the past lay scattered amongst rubble

Abandoned in the rush to escape an omniscient enemy

Conscription never crosses our minds

Too young to be sprung from the nest and given a weapon

A coffin marked ‘return to sender’

Coming home horizontal, no longer standing tall

The difference between corporal and corporeal is one letter

Just vocabulary, but for others a harsh reality

We watch with blind eyes from our privileged perspective

While the world begs us to pay attention.