War's Conscience

• Priya Naidoo, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2017

They were dropping like pins in an alley
The shrieking was like millions of banshees
The guns were going off every second,
It wasn’t war it was hell.
The blood was like grass in a field, everywhere.
There was no remorse
The corpses stank like old sewers
The soldiers were drowning
As if they were in water, but actually in pain
The thud of the soldiers falling was like a hammer
There was no fresh air,
It was like breathing in slime or water.
The guns were like demons,
Bringing everyone they faced, its own personal hell
Bracing yourself for the moment that the demon will face you
The anticipation hammers your conscience.