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I am a Child Sent to War

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10-31-2009 at 09:40:05 PM
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I am a Child Sent to War

I am a Child Sent to War



I

I am a dying boy among dying boys and dying men.



II

I lay in a ditch. I listen.

I am unable to stop my own death.

Mortars walk up to me –

four blasts, five, then miss me, walk away, indifferent.



III

I breathe the odor of dead bodies,

I see their vacant flat eyes; lift their heavy dull weight.



IV

A whore myself; I rub my flesh with whores.



V

I learn how to function without sleep,

I struggle to resist death, drink to be drunk.

I discover the sweet knowledge that comes from marijuana.

I learn the importance of details.

I learn not to fear most things that people fear.



VI

I stand under a torrent and look to the sky and dream of home.



VII

When I go home I dream that I am back.

The blasts of fire, the blood, the screams.

The blistering wood as bullets hit – zip zip.

There is no exit.



VIII

Those dreams stopped long ago.

Now, asleep, I inhabit the usual assortment of dreams:

Flying, fleeing, falling, dying, being loved, hiding from love.

I am a child sent to war.





by MP- if anyone is curious about real combat here you go .....
no more troops to Afgani-nam !!!!!!!!!!! make the peace - figure a way leaders !!!!!!!!!

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10-31-2009 at 10:44:24 PM

Re: I am a Child Sent to War

Hello poetography. thank you for the news havent seen the news for a couple of days ..oh and I like the fact that you even came home cool smile

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11-01-2009 at 12:07:33 AM
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I am a Child Sent to War

in many ways human civilization as made quantum leaps of achievements- space travel-
craking genetic codes- curing diseases - telescopes that can peer into distant galaxies...
we spend billions finding cures for cancer and other ways to extend human life span - and yet at the very same time - we practice the most barbaric of all prehistoric behaviors --
killing the same species we are trying to save at the same time -- it's mind boggeling --

save some - kill others
explore the universe in search of new life - kill the life we already have here on earth

i'm sorry --but i feel that i would not be doing my duty if i were keeping my moth shut about the horror of war - what is does to the mind let alone the body---

i hope this poem gets passed around i hope it does some good -- i hope it urges people to think that there must be a better way --- if we can achive the things I mentioned - even the internet is an unbelievable achievement --if mandkind can figure out the internet - we must be able to find a way --to solve our differences --

my critics will of course say that we were attacked on 9-11 --it's not our fault and i won't argue that point - but like it or not --endless war will not solve this -- the evidence -
each day it gets worse not better - so who could argue that war is the solution-
we got 8 do we want 16 -- 24 -- 30 years -- historically there have been wars that lasted 100 or more years -- look - we have had troops in korea for 60 years --anything is possible -- let the geniuses in the think tanks all around the world solve this - thats all i'm saying so that they dont have a suffer a life time of memories from being " I am a child sent to war "

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11-17-2009 at 11:18:00 AM

Re: I am a Child Sent to War

I think your poem is very good it makes you think about the trueth about war. I agree it is time to bring our babies and loved ones home. Joy

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11-17-2009 at 06:59:40 PM
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I am a Child Sent to War

our leaders are honor bound to work tirelessly for peace --
the alturnative is not acceptable --
i won't let them off the hook ..............

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11-18-2009 at 10:24:34 PM

A Simple Man aka poetography

A Simple Man

I’m a simple man and grateful for the vegetables that
I gathered and boiled in a pot to make nourishing soup.
This soup will make many meals for me.

I’m a simple man and grateful for the money that
I used to buy a long, freshly–baked loaf of French bread.
This bread will make many breakfasts for me.

I’m a simple man and grateful for the red wine and pure water
I drank with my tasty hot soup and bread tonight.
This wine and water will make many drinks for me.

I am a simple man and grateful for the words
I wrote on clean white sheets of paper.
These words will make many poems for me.

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11-25-2009 at 10:00:26 AM

Re: I am a Child Sent to War

Friends

What is rooted in the earth
When nothing is nothing
inside hard-pan’s sudden moments

The adults are at the barbecue laughing;
they spread the sauce upon the heated ribs;
they talk about the their lasting friendships;

The two fire year olds play inside the house;
Let’s play cowboys; Let’s play policemen
Let’s play soldiers; Let’s have some fun.

They run outside and scream with joy.
They face each other in “high noon”
as the explosion — Rings out —

A bullet penetrates a five year old
through the forehead and
blows the back of his head off.

Does the barbeque ever end as the ribs
sear themselves into charred blackness?
Will this day ever end for anyone there?



© RH Peat 11/25/09 6:51am
form: 6 tercets/ 18 lines
From an actual News story.

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11-25-2009 at 10:27:31 AM
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I am a Child Sent to War

yes no doubt it is true -


excellent --

Dear USA Gov't:

Before we sign off on 34,000 more troops- boots ( people - humans- sons and daughters of American's ) to Afghaninam we are all going to take a field trip to the VA hospital where we will meet many 19 - 25 year olds with no legs , arms, faces or genitals . After lunch in the cafeteria with soldies being fed through feeding tubes we will then meet our families and presents our own sons - daughters and grandchildren with recruitment papers and encourage then to sign on for front line duty .
Please don't be late this is a one time opportunity before you get to cast your war vote !
Mike Domino - Poet for peace

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11-25-2009 at 09:01:09 PM
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I am a Child Sent to War

regretfull RH - it wont end --
but i can't live with myself -- if i just went to the bar b q of life
drank beer and talked about the baseball score --

because -- when we fall for all these distractions that when they sneak off and start these things --

i'm cursed -- i have to think about it -- i can't let them pull the wool over my eyes -

it's personal .......

great write -- one of you best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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11-26-2009 at 08:30:10 PM

Re: I am a Child Sent to War

When I Came Out The Other Side

When I was headed for the other side
Caught in the long spiraling descent
I quick-silver tasted hate and anger
Were sweet and acrid lingered
Within my froth burning mouth
And my acid stomach ached
Within the desire to heave and puke
As I moved toward the other side

When I came out the other side
The soft beat of butterfly wings
Became the pulse and throb—pop
Of the whirling prop blades spinning—
The coughing air of cargo helicopters—
Plowing the sky, going inland
Up the river delta, over head
When I came out the other side

When I came out the other side
My whole being—from hair to toe-nail
Was like a freshly picked scab
Oozing and weeping with clearness
Greased with slippery blood
In the push and squeeze of the birth-canal
When I came out the other side

When I came out the other side
A hand-gun was leveled at my head
Nervous and shaking—quaking,
Even the second time around—
Within the closed joint of the corner
Where high walls and higher ceilings meet
Dead-on with the fiery combustion
Of the ringing discharge—un-answering,
That moved away from within
When I came out the other side

When I came out the other side
I knew without my seeing eyes
That detached love was meant to inflame
As well as instill calmness and kindness
I knew the deep penetrated thrust
Of stubborn un-retractable puncture
Stuck, embedded in bent-flesh.
When I came out the other side

When I came out the other side
My child was there laughing
As I wept bed-burnt innocence
From the raining dark-clouds of youth
Wrapped in warm blankets of soreness—
The soreness of being all alone
When I came out the other side

When I came out the other side
I awoke in a dreaming darkness
And a lonely dog was barking
In the distance like a whisper,
But even it stopped barking
And the sound of the emptiness
Filled with ten-million crickets
Singing loud in the studded night
When I came out the other side

© R. H. Peat —11/8/93 —3:57 PM

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11-26-2009 at 09:27:50 PM
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I am a Child Sent to War

- masterful -

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Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

Robert Frost (1875-1963) American Poet.
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