A friend of mine was unemployed,
he didn’t know what to do.
So he went down to the Army office and
said “I want to join you”.
So they sent him off to war,
for something he didn’t know.
They put a gun in his hand and
said “shoot the ones across the road”.
So he squatted down in the mud,
with the shit, the bullets, the bodies and the blood.
Trying to think of the ones he loved.
Trying to ignore all the death and the pain.
Then he saw the enemy come up to him.
He got his gun and went over to them.
He looked him straight in the eyes,
“That’s the first mistake”, the Officers replied.
For he saw a young man about his age,
he said “You’re the enemy, I must shoot you dead!”.
The man said “Why?” and stood there still.
My friend was silent and thought a lot.
His mind went crazy, he couldn’t shoot.
He couldn’t see why the war was on.
Why was he fighting? What’s to be won?
Why shoot a man the same as him?
So he put his gun on the ground,
and the enemy did the same.
Then the Officers went up to them,
and shot them both in the brain, and said
“They should have played the game”,
and went back from where they came,
to carry on the war,
like all those times before.
Safe in their bunkers,
with a gin and a straw!
Copyright: Gordon Warren (1986)