...No Regrets For Freedom.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

there will be no
regret
in freedom's name

we kill and be killed
we never talk about love
not even this love of
country
which has fooled too many

there may be regret for love
but there must never be any regret
for freedom
here we eat even raw flesh
we chop even the hardest bone
what is this price that we pay for?
butterflies coming out of their cocoons
ants breaking away from their hills
leaving the queen bee to its death
black birds roaming the skies
snakes spitting venom to each other
houses falling, continents rising
a woman giving birth and the
child spilling its first cry.

this feeling of freedom is horrendous.
it can kill me but it does not matter.
meaning is here and i am grabbing it.
between our country's lovely legs.