Inherited Medals

Each of us is a warrior: For earthly survival, For the Lord of our soul. What determines the time of service For each individual warrior? Conscription? Consumption? Was this culprit a volunteer? An honorable discharge Is really all the old warrior seeks. In the end the medals and commendations Don't matter As iconoclasts, gathering dust at the last. In the material form they represent Symbols, of the warrior's human achievement, Rusting, deteriorating, without a hint Of what they originally meant. Value not the icon, But hold it close to your heart. It represents the culmination of humanity, And your memory of it, the most precious part.