Confessions of a Soldier
Dear wife
I killed a man today…
Hence to you, I must confess
This heavy burden of mine
Orders came swiftly
And thrust upon the battlefield was I
Shouts of “Charge! Charge!”
Echoing still, throughout my mind
Blinded by the masses
Of my fellow men
Who seemed to bound past
Too far ahead
Somewhere in the distance
An enemy was not seen
I remained cowardly frozen, while oblivious
To dangers surrounding me
Why in this particular moment
To be struck in the head
Not by a missile
But, by too many questions I could not comprehend
And deafening explosions, whistling bullets
A reddening madness in the midst
I stood all alone…
Contemplating with anger and clenching my fists
Then, I spied a suspicious movement
From out the corner of my eye
He came rushing towards me, bayonet in hand
Now, I reasoned fairly quickly that I did not want to die
It was he or it was I
Who was more willing to live
Were there now moral questions to decide
Or just an instinct of actions we did
Sadly my love
All I can say…
Is that, I’m the one who lived
And walked away
Again, in regret I inform you
That I’m not entirely sure if I sinned
But, this I do know, I did not win
I killed a man today
Copyright © Michael Smith | Year Posted 2012
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