You Were Not There - Poem (1999)

​

The men are lined up awaiting command
The steady trigger in my shaking hand
The innocent eyes filled with fear and despair
You wouldn’t know because you were not there

​

The blood on my hands, the cries fill my ears
The gunshots and bombs, my eyes fill with tears
The weight on our shoulders, the soldiers all share
You wouldn’t know because you were not there

​

The youngest a teen, the eldest a man
Fighting for freedom as best as they can
Tears in their eyelashes, mud in their hair
You wouldn’t know because you were not there

​

The bright orange sunset casts light on my face
The silence is deadly and taints the whole place
The bodies piled high, lying face down everywhere
But you wouldn’t know because you were not there

​

War flogs your heart and fills it with pain
War haunts your mind and drives you insane
It steals from your heart, and almighty theft
War doesn’t tell you who’s right, but who’s left