My Country Lied Poem by ivor or ivor.e hogg

I lack the urge but have the skill.
My country taught me how to kill.
I had no choice could not refuse
nobody asked me for my views.

They said my country needed
to subjugate the enemy.
I was still young, green and naïve.
That I was sure I should believe

that what they told me must be true.
That it was something I should do.
But I discovered in due course
we were fighting to enforce

on those with just cause for dissent.
A very unjust settlement,
the promises my country made
and did not keep. We now forbade

their self determination.
The right of every nation,
it was battle we must lose.
The people have the right to choose.

To be an independent state
no longer seen as second rate.
Which they achieved eventually
they were not just a colony.

On looking back it seems to me
my country lied apparently.
An abuse of authority
I will not forget easily.

I lack the urge but have the skill.
My country taught me how to kill.
Though I can say with confidence
I’d only kill in self defence.

23-Jun-08