Two Soldiers

Holding his adversary

Carefully within his scope

To soldier A is a challenge--

A distant, forlorn hope.

 

An occasional glimpse of a helmet...

An aim as yet unfulfilled...

He knows that he has no choice:

It's kill, or he will be killed.

 

Good timing is essential.

All he can do is lie low

And wait. But there is something

That he doesn't know:

 

His enemy across the field--

Let's call him soldier B--

Is, like himself, a father--

And also a father of three.

 

He lives for his children,

Who are the light of his life;

And he hates not being at home

To support his struggling wife.

 

His two older brothers

Died in a previous war.

His mother died of grief.

How can he settle the score?

 

For now he can only take aim

At his enemy--at soldier A.

"Focus!" he tells himself. "Focus!"

As his mind starts drifting away.

 

Though soldier A is his target,

B is unaware, too,

Of soldier A's situation--

Of all that he is going through:

 

Soldier A's three children

Count the days till their dad

Will come home to take them to ball games--

To return to the life they once had.

 

The youngest child needs treatment

For a rare, childhood disease.

The middle child is being bullied

And requires his dad's expertise.

 

His wife--on the verge of a breakdown--

Finds it hard to suppress

The constant fears within her

That add to life's daily stress.

 

***

 

So soldier A and B

Await the instant to shoot--

To end the life of the other.

For that they deserve a salute?

 

If the two soldiers could only

Lay down their weapons and race

Across the shell-pitted field

And into each other's embrace,

 

Wouldn't that be amazing?

Much needless suffering would end.

And they could consider everyone

A brother or sister or friend.

 

Ah, but that's just a fantasy--

An illusion, a fancy, a dream,

An unreal expectation

With no place in mankind's scheme.

 

For as long as we're driven by ego,

And ignorance and vengeance and fear,

We're caught in a vicious circle,

And wars will not disappear.

(10-23-14)