Soldier Boy

Sunlight reflects on the shining steel,

The sleek killing machine.

Bright in its brilliance

Elegant in its distance

Repelling, enslaving, slaying

The untarnished shine in the eyes of the

Bright-eyed soldier boy.

Shining, smiling, upturned chin

Pointed in the direction of

Glory.

Bright with promise,

Red like Victory

Like Bravery

Like Blood

Flowing, unendingly

Dying the thread in the precious stripes

Saluted and honored by the

Bright-eyed soldier boy.

Upright, determined

Marching to the incessant beating

Of the nation's drum.

Regulating heart beats,

Universalizing uniformity

Ironing out differences

Peace through war.

'Till the blood washes away all imperfections,

Leaving a universal river of suffering.

Drowning out the screams which cannot disturb the

Smooth finality of the calm surface.

Stiff and straight.

Like the starched uniform on the

Bright-eyed soldier boy.

Who is taugth how to pull a trigger,

But not how to escape the force of the bullet.

The sound of the shot eternally ringing,

Ringing,

Ringing.

Shaattering and Fracturing,

Penetrating.

Until he is left broken, sobbing,

Hiding from the sound of a backfired car in the center of

Suburbia.

Trembling with the force of a thousand aftershocks

Cowering from the assault of the harsh sunlight.

Bright.

Like the eyes of the

Bright-eyed soldier boy

Saluting his river of blood.