War
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Isabelle Siegwart, Grade 11
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Poetry
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2014
War
Meaningless gunfire, flying at innocent men defending their country.
Staining their shirts with a thick red dye, eating at their hearts.
The cries of wounded soldiers, their screams piercing the smoke-filled air.
Tears mixing with sweat and dirt, impossible to distinguish.
Beneath each uniform, each piece of blood-stained material, beats a heart thats soft and warm.
A heart thats scared, afraid of minuscule pieces of rounded metal.
Metal that decides life or death.
You’re running through the gunfire, through the screams and shouts, looking for shelter, for comfort.
You see a metal bullet whizzing towards you.
Its as if it’s in slow motion, painfully slow.
It breaks through the flesh in your leg.
You can see others running past searching for cover as you hit the floor.
But there is no shelter, no escape.
Your mate rushes towards you, picks up your small limp body and carries it on his shoulders.
He’s risking his life for you.
You can see that you’re heading towards the Red Cross tent.
The cross is blurred by the smoke erupting from the guns.
You’re nearly there, so close.
Your going to make it.
Until he stumbles and the world around you erupts in an explosion
Red, Orange, you can see the entire spectrum flash before your eyes
Two more lives taken in this gruesome war
Innocent people dying
Lest We Forget