Thursday, December 28, 2006
British soldier killed in Afghanistan!
Read thisAnother senseless waste!
I watched and let you die that day,Just an adult child at play;
Maybe I killed you with a twitch of finger
Or a glance of my eye or I hurled my lance.
Perhaps I looked you in the eye and smelled your sweat and fear
As I slid my blade deep into you;Did I look deep into your soul
Or did I look away and vomit?
Sometimes I called you names and removed your humanity
–No Huu-Mann! – so you are dead.
In death you died while I live on and I am diminished and reduced
By your unknown death;Did I execute you or did I kill you
In the name of monarchy or country or was it a professional politician who has never served any bar himself?
Perhaps I stood idly by and watched as you killed yourself and I,
I did nothing but watch.
I did not kill you, did I?Yes I did, I killed as surely as any bullet or bladeAnd I stand before myself and scream,"Guilty, guilty, guilty…" until I have no voice
And my tears run dry and my sobs are still.
I watched you die and I see the blood upon my hands
And I shall remember you in flashback and film
That never-ending scene: your death.
I shall remember you when my children ask,
"How many did you kill in the war?"
I turn away and silently weep for those children who died that day.
They shall have no children of their own nor wives nor sweethearts;
Their lives stopped on that day.
In Memoriam: I killed you!
And, now?
‘I will remember them.’
Chris Green
