Not all battles are apparent and not all wars make rattling good history. They say that you must choose your battles wisely. What they fail to mention is that war takes you, with or without choice.
Here’s the thing about war— you never leave it unscathed. It breaks you in more ways than one leaving you wounded, splintered and scarred. You’re left a mere shell of what you used to be; an echo today where you once were.
Here’s the thing about war— it bares your soul and strips you of everything. It takes you apart and hangs you out in the open for a volt of vultures to fight each other over what’s left of you.
Here’s the thing about war— it always wins. You can try denying that it ever happened. You may bury it, but you can never escape it.
Here’s the thing about war— it never leaves your head. It’s a haunting presence; a ghost from the past that plagues your dreams and feeds the nightmares. You wake up; sheets drenched in sweat, or are they tears? It’s not until the bile rises up your throat and you rush to throw up till your guts spill out that you realize:
Here’s the devastating thing about war
It leaves survivors.
-S.R.
Manastva 