Edward Graham Macfarlane
The Poet and the Soldier
If a poet asked a soldier,
About the task he has to do,
He would tell him,
For I've asked this,
And I hope you enjoy the interview.
The soldier said to me quite frankly,
"I need a job you know,
And it’s a real world we're living in.”
"But the job is killing people!"
I said with some chagrin,
This just made the soldier chortle,
"But I only kill the bad ones
In some war I have to win."
"For example...” said the soldier,
“If I am ordered out to Bosnia,
I will be told who to kill,
And obeying superior officers,
Is the position I am in.
If I don't obey these orders,
I will lose my only job,
Even if a lying politician
Is thinking as a God-fearing yob!"
So then I asked the soldier,
"Do YOU believe in GOD ?”
"Of course not" said the soldier,
This is a new world we are in,
I joined up as an Atheist,
And when I'm told to "GET FELL IN"
I hear the Sergeant shouting,
"FALL OUT THE RCs and the Parsees,
And all who live in sin."
"It’s a DEMOCRATIC ERA after 1999,
And the sooner all believe this,
We will make a better use of time.
It is DAFT to talk of Jesus,
Blessing inter-cultural wars,
And some soldiers are getting ready,
To put a killing end to such wars."
As a poet I was astonished,
To hear this soldier's view,
But on reflection I must admit,
I would like to see
A ONE-WORLD HUMAN CREW.
So browse along with ERIK
And see what else a poet/soldier will now do.
Edward Graham Macfarlane
108 Forthill Road
Broughty Ferry
Dundee
Scotland
DD5 3DR
tel & fax: +44 (0)1382 730971
Email:
globdem@sol.co.uk
my writing
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