We see them, we smile
They tear apart the universe
Bows and ribbons cast aside
They make everything imaginable
Their countenance outshines
The rising sun in a morning sky
There is no greater joy than watching
Our children grow
Than seeing this amazing transformation
And the faces, the faces, the faces
A sure and certain promise
For a better tomorrow
With eyes that
Once fixed their sights on mother’s
Feeding breasts
Eyes that once clambered over father’s
Safe and burly chest
Once closed for games of hide and seek
Read books, named colors, took tests
Befriended schoolmates
Eyes on teacher, eyes in the mirror
Eyes on adolescent bodies,
First thoughts of sex
Now coming of age, now appreciating
At last this life is theirs to live
But little do they know
Of the hidden evil
In the hearts of the hawks
Now, now they stand staring
Staring off and over the edge of a cliff
A glitch in the picture
As all has come undone
Future sidetracked, lost to reason,
Lips pulled tight, faces frozen
Cheeks white with fear
Brows furrowed in dismay
Knowing now
That they
That they will be the ones
The tens
The thousands
The ten thousands
That they will be the ones
Who are destined
To go charging into the fray
Realizing that they
They will be the ones
To be ordered to the front lines
Maybe tomorrow, maybe today
Oh my children, my children
How was it that yesterday
These things went unmentioned
How was it that yesterday
These obligations were so fervently denied
Did we not chose to excuse
The familiar toys of war
The games that trained those same young minds
How and when to follow orders
Did we not know that all the babies born
Were born to be soldiers
Sailors, airmen, marines
Bound to this service
Bound to our society’s military insistence
Bound to our society’s insatiable greed
To be scattered like weeds in foreign fields
To be sewn like wildflowers in distant lands
Now planted behind sandbag barricades
Helmets and armored vests
Rifles and hand grenades pretending protection
So many shining faces
So many young and shining faces
So many innocent hearts
Shouting and running
Aiming and shooting
Then doing their best to understand
Some in humvees
Battleships, war planes, tanks
Young adults murdering in order to survive
Marching to the national anthem
Marching, marching
Some to live, some to die
Some to question, the when, the where, the why
Now waiting for the morning dew
Now waiting for dawn’s early light
Some cold
Some shivering in the dark
A noteworthy summation, save the absence, for this reader, at least, of "hatred." Without that ingredient, which has risen in importance over the past half century to monumental heights, there might be a chance. But as long as hatred in nurtured primarily by "ignorance," as long as education is left to suck up scraps of world wide governmental budgets, the scourge you site as birth only meaning preparation for more wars, well, that's all we'll have--more wars. Only this time, rather than conquest for land, riches and control of minds, it will be for the satiation of hate.
We have built a tremendous military-industrial complex, first, to meet the needs of World War II, and then enhanced by the very long cold war with the Soviet Union. All those generals, military companies, and loyal patriots, are used to the old man's game of war where they get to pull the puppet strings behind the scenes. With their parents encouragement, young people today, discouraged with the cost of college and the lack of meaningful jobs are easily persuaded to join the mercenary army we have created that must be exercised often in order to be "the best and the brightest" in the world.
You have posed the dilemma beautifully in your poem. So many enter the military to "grow up," and come out and disillusioned and disfigured.
My nephew just excitedly signed up for the National Guard. I certainly hope he doesn't get "called up" for some coming international crisis.
A Collection of Voices from Around the World is more than just a poetry compilation. It is a partnership of poets from around the globe brought together by an internet poetry forum. That forum, poetrypages.com, has been the home of many a fine poet s
Using Calgary as a backdrop the author satirizes the self-serving nature of the public as it continues to fatten itself, not only physically, but egotistically as well.
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You have posed the dilemma beautifully in your poem. So many enter the military to "grow up," and come out and disillusioned and disfigured.
My nephew just excitedly signed up for the National Guard. I certainly hope he doesn't get "called up" for some coming international crisis.
Ron