11/5/95

Dog Soldier

The thrill that spilt through his veins
as he killed, tasted the bitter pill
and swallowed it whole, with a chill
sureness, set me reeling. 

A good man
now a cog in the machine, a dog with
ID from the US Marine Corps - 
his license to kill with impunity.

Reality reeled as the metronome
of hatred ticked, bleeding corpses
the result of this man's screaming rifle.

Don't trifle with a man with a gun,
it's no fun when your dead, so you
better run, better Red than dead.

When your head tells you its wrong
believe it, when your stomach churns on
pay attention and realise violence
is a clumsy weapon. 

Use it seldomly and with caution, 
as myth can't replace life
in reluctant martyrs impaled on the bayonet
of nationalism, or hatred gone mad. 

Stop
and think your lucky to be a WASP
that millions have paid for your fate.

So forget irrational hate and contemplate
a fairer tomorrow without sorrow, and make
a new start before we all fall apart.