Though the war drums fall silent
Their beat yet echoes across the earth
Shaking the grass that sprouts where boots were kicked
Slicing again the air once split by planes and bombs

War isn’t over when fighting stops
It rages on in empty rooms kept neat
And abandoned loves, and fatherless children
And hollow stares

Orderly rows of cemetery stones
Reform ranks of soldiers
Who marched last year to cheers
And parade today in silence

The world they won, or lost, is this one
Their war, driven into our streets and homes resounds
Their honor lies not in that we remember
But in the verse we add to the song