CHANGES

Times and I are not the same.
I fight a private war inside
And people that I've known to see
Are strangers now to me.
Without the least intention
But by a country's own invention
The person who I was has changed
And may never be the same.
Whose fault is this? Who shares the blame,
Each of us – or none at all?
Perhaps the answer isn't here
Or perhaps the answer's near;
Perhaps within the rocket's glow.
Perhaps we'll never know.

Author’s Note: This poem was written about a few days after the war in Iraq began. We had a number of middle eastern workers at the USPS. Days before, they were my friends – then sadly, I perceived them differently.