War Game Poem by Dawn Rose

Wounded in the firing line of the opposition
Makes me curious about where it began,
How did this hell-like war start?
Where did it all begin?
Let me go back!

I remember sitting in an office
Talking about my future.
Talking of my own dreams,
A man saying that they could happen
All I had to do was sign a piece of paper
And follow orders.
I never thought that these orders
Would lead me to my death.
Why did you turn me into this?
I don’t recognise myself anymore
So how can I live as myself?

As I walked into camp
I thought I was the only one
But others were like me
Curious, excited and scared
But knowing that we are helping
The time we were there got harder
The food that we ate got worse
But we still went on.
Through the torment and hardship
That you didn’t mention
Through the pain and suffering
You put us through,
We still go on, we still stand tall!
But why did you lie?

Over time
We lost our sense of feeling,
Not just of any physical pain
But of all our emotions too.
How can you live like this?
All we knew is gone!
And now it has been replaced
With anger, hatred and blood
Does this make you happy?
Do you enjoy hearing us scream?
You sit back in your chair
Watching and waiting for new recruits
But you have not seen the real war.
You don’t know what you’re leading us to
You don’t know what you are doing
You are sending us to our deaths
Does this mean anything to you?
Are we just set pieces,
In your ongoing game?

You haven’t done a lot of things.
You haven’t felt the world against you,
But I have.
You haven’t watched a friend die in your arms.
But I have.
You say “you will save lives”,
But we are taking lives of others.
We live this torture every day and night,
But what about you?
What do you do?
You sit in your chair every day,
Making empty promises and false statements.
I know you of all

So in the end,
Was it worth it?
Did I get what I was after?
Did I find peace?
I did not,
I found myself, which is so much more
In a life time of ongoing war