Toy Soldiers

Toy Soldiers

It began hand to hand
with stones and sticks
at the dawn of time.
As ingenuity grew
weapons evolved into
arrows, spears and knives.

Long before Age of Bronze

boys have marched
into the maw
of the meat grinder.

Is it the cause
or the cadence?
Why do they willingly
dive into death
as if it were a swimming hole
on a hot afternoon?

Seduced by the GI Joe image

boys play with toy soldiers
on bedroom floors
battling dinosaurs
or Indians-
knock ‘em down
set ‘em up again.  

And heads of nations
play with young soldiers
on battlefields
send 'em in,
when they fall,
send more in.

They're told to fight

for God, for country

for democracy.

It's all lies and greed. 

Boys become
moving targets
cannon fodder
dough boys
over-baked in trenches
basted in blood.
Tired boys in
battle fatigues
suffering
PTSD.

There is blood on Wall Street
blood in our gas tanks
the White House transfuses
the blood of young soldiers
into its foundation and campaigns
and pretends to be sad about it.

And poets practice pacifism
but the blood continues to rise. 

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This was written about the war in Afghanistan. 

I can't help but think about what the Ukrainian and Russian poets are writing these days.