A Genealogy* of Warfare

by | May 27, 2020

A man named Henry died fighting General Lee.
Had he lived, he would have married Mabel Morgan
and been my great grandfather.
He did not.
That honor went to a man named David,
my mother’s grandfather.

A man named Charles died fighting Kaiser Wilhelm.
Had he lived, he would have married Anna Brown
and been my grandfather.
He did not.
That honor went to a man named Carl,
my mother’s father.

A man named Harold died fighting Hirohito.
Had he lived, he would have married Mildred
and been my father.
He did not.
That honor went to a man named Isaac,
my father.

A man named Don died fighting Ho Chi Minh.
Had he lived, he would have married Carolyn
and been my daughter’s father.
He did not.
That honor went to me.

My daughter Linda died fighting Saddam Hussein.
Had she lived, she would have married Rick
and become my grandson’s mother.
She did not.
That honor went to her sister Kay.

My grandson
may become my great grandson’s father.
If he lives.

*this genealogy is fictional

2020