James Foley (Beheaded) Poem by Randy McClave

He wasn't a mercenary
So, of course he wasn't a fighter,
He wasn't a recruit or in the military
He was just a journalist, a writer.
With the Indiana National Guard he was embedded;
He was then beheaded.

He wasn't a warrior or a terrorist
His life it could have been spared,
His only weapon was his pen, and not his fist
The truth he had worried about and cared.
His families life was then shredded;
He was beheaded.

He was held as a prisoner of war
Jailed in a hell for over two years,
He wasn't a murderer or a criminal as he had swore
He suffered alone with his abandonment and fears.
Even though wars he had dreaded;
He was still beheaded.

Many of us know not of combat
But, we hear of it from what we have read,
With its hate, bombings and habitat
The innocent will always first lie dead.
While politicians only care if their fuel is unleaded;
He was beheaded.

In the end he gave his life
Because with terrorists we will not negotiate,
But, we can sleep with our enemy as a wife
And the truth we can't write or dictate.
While our leaders dined and then they were bedded;
He was then beheaded.

Randy L. McClave