The Soldier Who Barely Had Shoes

Its spoken word and I have a form to it that must be done in person to understand it fully.

Green hands a band around the gun,

standing and facing the sun.

still,

Ready to kill the enemy standing behind the Coke can,

Yes the tan army man that came in the same pack with him.

His general being a hardened man of war,

barely exceeding the age of four.....actually he might have been five.

And it was five in the afternoon,

Dinner was soon,

so this battle had to end quickly

Because tonight was macaroni

and bologna....

much better than the norm of pb and j on a tortilla shell by the way,

but most of the time it was pb and sugar any other day...

So he picks a booger and the battle wages on,

Mud crusted hands moving his pawns

“For those dirty japs can't win this battle,

It's because of them we lost at Nam....wherever that's at”

he thinks as pebbles and spit wads rain down from the heavens,

then he says hi to his only friend Kevin....the grass hopper.

Oh how terrible this war,

He had never seen such violence before.

This was in fact the real deal,

Because here comes now the man of steel,

BATMAN!!!!!

…..wait that's not the man of steel,

but I guess anything is steel when all of your childhood

hopes and dreams are based upon a super hero

for the sight of role models are narrow

and its around your only choice

for there really isn't a real super man in his dreams,

flying in to rescue him from what seems

to be hell when he finds himself all alone

while mommy

is on the phone

chit chatting with her newest boyfriend,

Being treated like Casper,

Dying with everything in him to slap her,

To show her that he hasn't died and become some phantom behind the

Couch,

But her baby,

“But I guess her new friend is important....

I wonder what happened to the one she had on Tuesday?

Maybe he moved away....or died”...or couldn't handle being a father,

and wouldn't bother

for he lacked the trait needed to keep his world together:

a red cape.

“But THIS

boy is a real man,”

Thought the plastic man aloud

As a cloud settles over him.

“So gruff and mean,

I saw him eat a worm once

or when he slipped and fell he barely cried,

and when his mommy lied,

he just smiled and ran around like always,

pressing through the summer days

without

the air conditioner this month.

What a real ma..”

Then splatters a ball of flem,

“Aha! We got him Tim!”

“Wait, general, you betrayed us! Why have you done thi.......”

Only to be cut off by his head being snapped off,

just like in that bloody movie he watched last night while mommy was in the other

room making funny noises with her boyfriend Terri...

which was in fact kinda scary,

for she sounded like he was hurting her.

I mean she sounded like she was crying or dying,

“Maybe I should save her!”

He thought,

only to walk in on something he couldn't understand,

then smacked on the hand,

But would within a year,

Be instilled with fear,

finding out what it was to be held down like mommy

and made to make that noise,

then turn around and show the other boys,

in innocence,

treating those places like toys

and doing things that most would be ashamed to do.

What innocent eyes actually see,

Something most would hardly believe.

That man in black taking him to the back bedroom,

throwing all innocence into an early tomb,

turning him to a twisted figure in

the bathroom floor,

All because of what happened at the age of four;

Slitting his wrist at eighteen,

Drifting into sexual madness,

Chasing arms that will never hold him,

Believing the voices that only condemn.

Striking down all love as it cries out,

Trying to relieve him of all the doubt,

Telling him over and over again,

I'm here,

I'm here,

Just let me in.

But he finds himself alone like that child before,

Yes the same battles from the age of four.

He weeps as the voices cut into his mind,

Telling him every lie,

Every poison of every kind.

Breaking him breaking him more and more,

Bleeding away as he cries on the bathroom floor,

wishing to be held,

wishing he didn't hate,

If being alone wasn't his fate.

What if daddy hadn't been lost from his little universe

and having w***e of a mother was not his curse.

What if he had not been rejected all his life,

What if he never came to this moment,

Where he was holding this knife.....

Then he hears the distant sound,

The jingle,

“Maybe a Popsicle with the dollar I found.”

So he drops all his friends and runs to parking lot,

Oh the black top,

how hot.

But he heard his mommy holler,

She needed her dollar.

“I guess cigarettes are more important than me.”

So he hands over the money,

“Maybe next time honey..”

Then he watches his greatest escape drift away,

“All I wanted was that Milky Way.

But I guess I'll get one on another day.”

Then he drifts away into the land of being confused,

Another battle,

Another day,

for the soldier who barely had shoes.

Author's Note

Yeah...

Reviews

[Frifthor (D^2)]

When I first started reading I assumed the piece was about child soldiers, but it seems to be more about just conflict in lfe in gneral, which serves for an intresting twist. You've done an excellent job working with the unique rhyming scheme of the work, and I'm impressed with how many different points of view you could portray in the writing. An excellent job.

[Ruth]

Yep, spoken word would be amazing to this lol
Has a Lynch type surrealness to it too lol
I love this
xx

[Ruth]

This is amazing!
What a flow - as spoken word, I can imagine being this hard hitting! AWESOME work!
xx

[Emily B]

yeah, very tall

[The Analog Kid]

Very different. Sad, with dark sarcasm. Innocence. The army men. The child is however resiliant.

[The Warrior Poet]

While at the surface it seems dark and tragic, there is the light in the darkness that he is alive and it is through experiences like that, and with Mothers who have questionable dedication to being just that, that strong characters are created in our storybook world. They make some of the best soldiers (literally speaking).

This structure, to me, reads like an Eminem rap.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very interesting story. Children have more backbone then adults. They can bounce back from loss or victory. Life is in the moment. A lot of situations you create with your words. I like the description and story. My mother would chose cigarette over the need of us kids. Didn't bother me now or then. Each of us must decide what is important or not. A excellent story. Thank you.
Coyote

[Poetic Beauty]

wow this is quite the poem. It tells a horrific story and it says it all with such detail that it makes me think it is a personal experience or something someone close to you has went through. the flow is easy to follow and I like how you use the green army men. that is something tangible that we all can relate to. Very creative and heart wrenching.

[Sweets]

Great poem :)
And nice rhymes :)
I loved this part the most: "And it was five in the afternoon,
Dinner was soon,
so this battle had to end quickly
Because tonight was macaroni"
Great write! :D
100/100