Soldiers Of The World Poem by Saiom Shriver

Recruited by promises
of adventure, relief
from poverty

Patriotic feelings
manipulated
by martial music

Programmed to believe
this is what
real men do

Injected with toxic
vaccines... denied
the right to refuse the
needle.. not informed
even of the name of
the chemical

Being forced to rise
at dawn

or standing watch
all night
freezing or baking
hungry
tired
... legs cramped
and in pain

Tied to a rope
jerked by senior
officers...

forced to swallow
insults

low pay

treated as objects
... collateral damage

sacrificed for the
expansion of billionaires'
oil or copper markets

or killed in wars of
religious rivalry

ordered to kill
brothers of another
color

living out
a life as a blind man
or paraplegic

sometimes blown
apart beyond
all recognition