A poem by Dan Blanchard, UCSC Student, RCNV Intern, 2003

SOLDIER

Do not doubt that I am a soldier.
I assure you, I am.
It's true that if you give me a gun
I will look for the safety.
Tell me to hate the enemy
and I will resist fiercely,
Like I have been trained to do.

Don't think that I won't got to battle.
Wounds that cut deep
have left this soldier alone,
bleeding,
for dead,
seriously questioning the cause.

Still, I will not war as you know it.
Battle lines separating
gray into black and white,
hearts into love and hate,
sinners into good and evil
this was as we know it
bombing, attacking --
destrying our will to defend
the idea of a world of peace;
a world without this war as we know it.

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