The Silver Mirror

They come back different...

Tides turned, the enemy was on the run

Twelve killed with one toss

Mothers little soldier cries ceaselessly

Unable to wash the blood from his hands

Snap in trenches f*****g wakey, hear that bell

Sniper rounds from shadowed quakey, blinded hell

Eating sand and feeling shakey, want my mom

Comrades life the devil takey, step on bomb

A mothers pride is not enough

To glue his fractured world view

Into something that resembles happiness

So many pieces, so little time

Eying childrens corpses smokey, raise the dead

Reasons fighting grimly hokey, lolling head

Insane logic kind of pokey, why be here

Your life my life such a jokey, can’t be queer

He is the one left standing with the silver mirror

The one that won’t break, a "God’s side" souvenir

And no matter how many times he tries to comb his hair

He will never shake the ugliness of war

Author's Note

Yep...

Reviews

[john l smith]

This constant inclination toward warfare, at whatever level, is something I just can't understand
Napoleon, Hitler, and the boys!
With the damage that can be done now, any more serious warfare could bring the end to all warfare
Dave B

[Lorry]

Yep indeed. They never do feel, look or act the same, after they witness the govornment sanctioned brutality of war. They see how cheaply lives are given, and even if they make it out physically unscathed, they have a mental horror that I can barely begin to imagine.
It is at times of conflict, the rational must wonder why we made it out of the food chain. We may think ourselves the superior species, but I doubt any other could have made a bigger a*s of it than we did. :)
We can only hope they make it out alive.

[Chris Shaw]

Horrors of warfare. Soldiers turned into killing machines, a planet away from mother's little boy. And when and if they go home, how can they possibly shake any of it off? What do they feel inside and how do they cope with the images inside their head? Stanzas two and four are very effective. wakey, quakey, shakey, takey and smokey, hokey, pokey, jokey. I like the way you changed the style of the stanzas, so that they come across very differently to the reader. Great read on a very serious topic.

Chris

[Fabian G. Franklin]

War takes more than life. It takes away empathy from a person and leaves them with a hole inside that can't be filled. It drives some veterans mad. It takes an emotional block for them to survive. I'm sadly too familiar with the scenario. Good writing.

[Crowley]

Thanks Fabian, its one of my personal faves and I cannot imagine I'm sure what it would be like, but I tried.

[Mrudula Rani]

What an amazing writing. Taking a life is the ultimate crime. But in a war it is kill or get killed... War-veterans have such a nightmare of life copping through their experiences.( 20 veterans a day die from suicide... according to US's Department of Veterans Affairs )The Silver Mirror is an eye opener.

[Crowley]

Thank you and very sad. Hope you have a great weekend!!!

[Mrudula Rani]

Tudo de bom( all the best). Uma abraço (a hug) .

[Crowley]

What language is that...its nice!!!

[Mrudula Rani]

It is português. I live in Brasil ( Brazil) they speak Portuguese here. I think it is one of the loveliest languages.

[Crowley]

I thought it was similar to Spanish, but seems to be softer and more French like. I want to go visit Brazil, my daughter was just in Sao Paolo for a wedding, she loved it.

[Mrudula Rani]

It is a beautiful country and people are very friendly and affectionate. I am very sure you are going enjoy your visit to Brazil.

[Gypsy Warrior Queen]

This one runs close and deep....I never wanna have to close my eyes and see inside...the screams are enough to hear.

[Crowley]

Yeah...I couldn't do it. I would make a worthless killing machine.