A World Without

Sometimes you find yourself looking back;

wondering, imagining, thinking.

This is what you wished for, you suppose.

Prayed for.

Fought for.

Died for.

Because you aren’t alive, not really, not anymore.

You are a walking, talking anomaly.

One person out of millions.

The only one who remembers.

The final one remaining.

Generations had dreamed of this;

a world without a miliary means a world without war,

a world without killings,

a world without fear.

No fear means no courage.

No rushes of adrenaline.

No bravery.

No fear means no emotion.

But you can’t say that, can you?

Without being thought of as a monster,

an advocate of death and war.

An advocate for the past.

There’s peace now.

But maybe peace doesn’t mean happiness.

Maybe it just means no war.

No emotion.

And what is a world without emotion?

Without passion?

Without love?

You remember the days of whispered “I love you,”

the days of chaste kisses amidst battles,

the days of sorrow and joy and fright,

hurricanes of life, death, and everything in between.

You remember it all as though it was just yesterday.

You’re exactly ninety-nine years old now.

Older than most, teetering on the brink of death.

You smile gently, watching as the world rebuilds itself;

As a child takes his first step,

As a girl says yes to a kneeling boy,

As a family mourns the loss of a loved one,

As a couple falls in love, despite your belief that it was no longer possible.

Perhaps, you decide, love, fear, passion, and emotion have no bounds.

Perhaps, you think, people don’t need prompting to walk their first step,

accept a proposal,

grieve a loss,

ot fall in love.

Perhaps, the world is better without war.

And not just because less people are dying,

but also because people have more time.

More time to walk, accept, grieve, and fall.

Perhaps, just perhaps, emotions always prevails.

Whether in a world with war, or

a world without.