War Poem

A young man, no more than a boy.
Delusions of glory,
Golden valediction for imaginary heroes.
But there are no heroes where he is going.
For he is going to war.

A family at home, two young ones and a mother.
A yellow card, missing in action.
Three fatal words pierce three inconsolable minds.
Sorrow, weeping, hope, a missing wheel, polite sympathy.
A bridge, an orphanage.
Four ruined lives

A man of god, refusing to kill.
Twisted remnants of men held in shaking hands.
Blasphemic thoughts startle his holy mind.
What god would allow this ugly war to be?
What god would let his children kill?

Rotting shells of shattered hopes and dreams,
trampled into the mud by innocent murderers,
forced to be enemies, fighting someone else's war.
Death. The abrupt end. The final outcome. The only outcome.