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 © | Year Posted 2012


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Date: 6/25/2012 10:24:00 PM
Fighting for world peace, God Bless You and your family, you are here for a reason,,very well gifted,,love your poems,,Peace be with you my friend,,,,love debra
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Date: 5/29/2012 8:04:00 AM
The gift of life, is to have life,you walked away,keep living,keep writing,experiences shared strengthen the rest of us....
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Date: 5/26/2012 4:10:00 PM
This is such expressive and emotive work..One of the best that I have read lately..Sorry to hear that you have had an upset stomach also..Not a fun thing to have..Thanks for stopping by my blog..I hope that you can enter my contest..Sara
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Smith Avatar
Michael Smith
Date: 5/26/2012 5:25:00 PM
Thanks Sandra. This is actually one of my very first poems. I don't know exactly how it came. It just poured out word for word one night. I had a different title, but my wife said it should be titled by it current name.
Date: 5/26/2012 3:39:00 PM
This is so beautiful and so sad. Our young men go out to fight, some come back some don't. I am glad that you did. may God bless you and yours. Lucilla
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Smith Avatar
Michael Smith
Date: 5/26/2012 5:23:00 PM
I never did join the military, but I have a military family; a grandfather served in WWII, and uncle in Korean War, a brother in first Gulf War and another brother in Iraq. I try sometimes to put myself in the minds of fictional characters and write from their perspectives. This is one such piece.
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