Danny Maffapod,
ENC 3310-02

A SOLDIER'S LAMENT

Quivering leaves of yellow and red gently lick the sky
While steel, green choppers fly above the flames like beetles and
dragonflies
Swooping and landing, rearming, restoring groups of ant-like men
Who hardly seem to notice the burning village behind them.
Sparks from this flaming land dance from tree to tree;
Creating, destroying, living and burning all inside of me.

Is there a moral line to cross that can decide my fate?
Or is there a plan that is so grand as a being that loves to hate?
Will the crimes committed here deliver me to hell?
Or are they considered crimes here?  It's so hard to tell.
Are we struggling to protect or will we swallow whole
Thousands of years of mankind's search for God, love and a soul?
Or do we truly battle our own dark and twisted cores
While living lives so civilized - lives devoid of wars?

So now the flames begin to drop and the earth that's left is scarred
A village gone, it's people stunned, the only remnants charred
And as the ashes blown in the wind reflect the sun's hot rays
We ant-like men will turn our backs and quietly march away

Gorgeous country, luscious green
Shrapnel-ridden children scream
The winding river water shines
Live life in fear of heartless mines
Pin-pricked stars caress dark skies
Bloodied hands watch brothers die
Sun streams through branch-canopied trees
I pray my son has no days like these.
 

Submitted by:
Jim Ormsbee "Bee"
Warwagon, D Troop, 3/5 Cav
12/68 - 12/69 Dong Tam & Vinh Long