<
ON BEING LEFT BEHIND
"You're
not coming with us."
The words crush
the officer's spirit.
How can go
home a war hero
If he doesn't
go to war?
"Someone has
to stay back."
Shame leaves
no room for logic.
He looks at
his friends and knows
That one of
them will get his medal.
"There's important
work here."
Platitudes
you'd use on a child
Can't soothe
the loss of a dream
That won't
come true.
"Ten years
from now it won't matter."
A lie; ten
years later he remembers
The day his
unit entered Iraq
While he watched
on CNN and wept.
BY: Andy Entwistle