Child Soldier Poem by Richard Wlodarski

I am the pure and innocent child
Lost in the gruesome evil and the wild
I have been led astray
From child's naivete

I have no toys with which to play
Stripped of child's pleasurable way
I cry day in and day out
Not knowing what this is about

I've just turned only ten
Among some evil men
Instead of a toy for a little boy
They've given me a gun for their ploy

They've taught me to shoot to kill
Making me believe it's a thrill
My body shakes while I pull the trigger
Oh my God I wish I was so much bigger

I sleep on a cold concrete floor
In a dark room with a locked door
I dream only of so much evil killing
Not even one dream of playground playing

I always wake sweating and so very cold
Praying to God I was a little more bold
I eat the same food they feed the dog
Feeling less human than any hog

I drink water from the river where they pee
Always shivering and so very sickly
The river is colored with the blood of my childhood
With severed human heads the acts of the devil's brood

I am a child soldier suffering a dreadful pain
I am going so very blind from all of the strain
I have lost my hearing from the gun's constant shooting
I wish that Almighty God would stop this child's killing



Richard Wlodarski July 2016