Mark E. Brotherton

IRAQ

We’re here; the situation suddenly desperate
Is one life worth the cost of this seemingly endless venture?
‘Blood for oil’ they scream back home
Here, I’m suddenly alone
Another roadside bomb
Another news report
Guilt hits me
Makes me bow in my tracks
As another unit over the radio screams as it comes under attack
The blood rolls off another Humvee and into the latest headline

What do my countrymen do at this point in time?
Buy another SUV, at 14 miles per gallon
Wishing they had gotten the leather in Italian
While I’m here force feeding democracy
To a country reluctant to fight for itself
Are we the world’s policemen
Or just very naive?

©Copyright March 14, 2005 by Mark E. Brotherton

The results of an I.E.D. in Baghdad on a Hummee