Death At War

• Russell Burgess, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2008

Guns cracked, bullets pierced
The bodies of the enemy
Life seemed so worthless
In the heat of war

The war had gone for so long
That nobody knew what
They were fighting for
They just fought because they had to

I was 19 and eager to win the war
I guided the troops
With the bang of my drum
My father was at my side

I banged my drum and led
He shot his gun to protect me
When we got separated
I banged my drum and he would come

But once we got separated
I banged and he didn’t come
So I kept on banging
And still he didn’t come

I searched and banged
And I never found him
I gave up on banging and searched
Finally I found his bloody body

He had been shot in the head
Then the heart and stomach
I sat there and cried
Over the mangled body of my father

20 years later and I still
Have nightmares about
That mournful moment
It has changed my life forever

I guess I’m a stronger man now
I don’t fear death
But I fear war
As long as I live I will never go to war