Flashback

I saw a young girl standing there

Dressed in rags, eyes full of despair

Her home in flames, dazed and confused

Her frail body battered and bruised

She could not speak, she made no sound

she just slowly looked around

As we passed by her humble Ville

It seemed like the whole damn world stood still

Flames were reaching towards the sky

God only knows how many died

Enemy arms caught fire in the well

An explosion opened the gates of hell

 Bullets whizzed by,  the earth was rocked

We slowly recovered from the shock

Crawled to our knees and looked around

The little girl lay bleeding on the ground

This is something we have seen before

We chalked it up as a reality of war

No time for compassion, couldn't let it sting

We Blocked it out , didn't mean a thing

Hardened  warriors with hearts of stone

We were thankful it wasn't one of our own

We walked away and never looked back

It was just another day, another attack

Through the years in the stillness of night

We unwillingly continue to fight the fight

Though at the time we believed our own lies

The truth is seen " today " in our eyes

" It did mean something "

© Richard D. Preston