Vocabulary Lesson (Monday Poem)

by Ann Wagner


We don't have wars.

We have
      
          conflicts
          campaigns
          operations
          escalations
          missions
          offensives
          preemptive strikes.

We don't have soldiers.

We have

          peace keepers
          troops
          servicemen
          servicewomen
          forces
          coalitions
          units.

We don't have mistakes in combat.

We have

          incidents
          accidents
          friendly fire
          flawed intelligence.

And we don't have death.

We have

          casualties
          loss of life
          collateral damage.

What we do have is

          a careful vocabulary.



from America at War: Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, 2008, Simon & Schuster