I hear the soldiers training

Book 41

Page 42

I hear the soldiers training

I hear the soldiers marching,

they’re training to go to war.

I hear them marching left / right / left,

and the sergeant’s instructional roar.

And I think to myself, what for!?

Why go to war?

But in my heart,

I know “what for.”

For someone has done wrong,

another country has taken innocent life.

And pretty soon in the name of “war,”

there’s gonna be more strife.

But the very thought of war horrifies me.

How must the soldiers feel

as they march up and down,

going through their drills?

How must it feel,

to go to another country and put your life on the line?

While everyone else stays at home,

relatively safe and fine.

And now I hear that sergeant shout in his stern and paternal voice,

“Left, --- left, --- left / right / left.”

And I know that indeed

everything is far from right.

Not right for the soldiers.

Not right for this country.

Not right for any country or anyone.

But it’s what we say should happen!

O my god, the soldiers are being primed for war.

I can hear them down the street.