C O M B A T the Literary Expression of Battlefield Touchstones ™ ISSN 1542-1546 Volume 03 Number 01 Winter ©Jan 2005 Fighting the War that Doesn't Exist You said let's martyr the vice of the entire land, but I don't think I can barter the opinions at hand. When it's over we'll drink the finest wine you insist; I'll sputter my rhetoric and shake the community's fist before I go fighting the war that doesn't exist. And if it all comes down to our love and a fizzle, we can turn back our clocks, and I'll blow the whistle. Just let's savor the seconds that slowly tick by, sprawl out in quicksand and watch the birds fly, get drunk on the gravity that's holding us down. We'll wake up early on weekends and make all sorts of sounds — yes, let's savor the seconds that slowly tick by. If I haven't made sense than — well, we know that I tried. And true, when it's all over, we'll drink the finest wine. I'm not toting hard feelings or keeping a list, and I certainly won't go fighting the war that doesn't exist. by Louis Crisitello ... who is a student of performing arts, with works previously published in little and underground magazines.