There’s a hundred, thousand soldiers

On the battlefield below,

How many of them make it home,

Only God will know,

But each of them are certain

That God stands by their side,

In defence of their homeland,

Their people and their pride.

But I have a mental image

Of the Lord up on his throne,

His head sunk deeply in his hands,

Asking, “Do you think I’d condone

The slaughter of my children

For a worthless stretch of land?

You all call yourselves righteous

Yet none of you understand,

You cannot get to Heaven

Through the barrel of a gun,

Have you learnt so little?

Since I sent to you my son?

Was the sacrifice he made

To save your souls in vain?

How could you let the Devil

Rule your hearts and minds again?

Is not the land I gave you

Big enough for all to share?

Does love your fellow man not mean

All people, everywhere?

How could you believe that when I gave you all

Your own free will,

It meant that you could use that gift

To rob and cheat and kill?

The commandments that I gave you

Were rules to live by for all time,

Yet you twist the meaning of them

To do the Devils work, not mine,

Whilst begging for forgiveness,

Even as you kill and maim,

And leave wholesale destruction on the earth

And all done in my name”.

In my imagination

This is how I see our father speak,

His shoulders stooped and shaking,

Tears streaming down his cheeks,

While begging us, his children,

To go and sin no more,

But knowing we’re addicted to

The sights and sounds of war.

And knowing too, the Devil

Has done his work too well,

And most of Gods own children

Are surely bound for Hell.

By S.E.Ralph

19-12-2023