The War Poem by Cheryl Cheng

The line stretches out
Far across the field
The young men standing proud
As they sign up
For the war.

They ignore the cries and pleas
Of their family, friends, and Lovers.
For them, pride for their country
Is most important.

How would they know
That the glory of it all
Is short-lived.
The missiles
The bombs
The gunfire
The living quarters
And most disgusting thing of all:
The mutilated bodies.

How would they know
That the 'test' of strength
And manliness
Is nothing in comparison to
The innocent people slaughtered
The orphaned souls
The loss of allies
The grief.

And if they survive
And if they come back
And if their family survived
And if their Lover still loves
They will have honour.
Their children will have honour.

But how would their heirs know
What the men gave up
For honour
For glory
For pride

And how would they know
What they sacrificed
For a never ending cycle
For a purposeless fight
For supposed rights and freedom?

And somewhere far away
Where the young men fought for peace
Lies small children
Crying with their last breaths
Wondering what they did to deserve this.