I am that young, aging blood existing on the field
Of sacrifice for battles,
I am that citizen that
has become a territorial
Protector to my fellow humans,
You may think me
too strict,
brutal
Or perhaps rugged,
rigid,
or even overly serious
But do you care to know the pains,
The tearing of my flesh; the agony,
The bitter sweet near death experiences,
The gunful revelations and separation from home.
I live as if I am dead,
I die in war so others can live in peace,
Am locked up in servitude to my fatherland,
I hold my pistol as a rule to strive,
I am licensed to kill yet am not a murderer,
Oh! Are my eyes not being brutalized
By gruesome situations,
Painful explosions; vivid losses it witnesses?
If I recount what I went through to
De-civilianize myself,
I weep gladly,
Lo! I spray bullets
on the enemy knowing
That this path is
no retreat, no surrender.
I am a man, woman,
husband, wife,
father, mother or even lover
Yet blood is a liquid I have drank with the mouth of a sniper,
Flesh and bones remind me I am a whole new personality,
But don’t forget
This mine skin is of mortality,
I am a fighter, a warrior,
a fearless entity,
I smell death and inhale life,
I am breathless yet existing,
I can cry too, I can laugh too,
I can live life too,
I am a soldier, yes! I am still human,
So when I return home
physically or across the bar,
Bade me welcome and
replicate my sacrifice
With a genuine appreciation
from your soul,
I deserve accolades both on
earth and in the afterlife.
DoubleSpeak 