A Child is Born

A child is born, it’s a boy.

With red hair, let’s call him Roy.

Right on time! his father cries

And hurls a jug to the skies

CHEERS to you my boy

His father says full of joy.

 

Roy grows and learns to obey

When to move and when to stay.

He learns of borders and of men afar

Following a sickle, a hammer and a star.

Who are those men? he asks one day

Are they lost? Have they gone astray?

His father nods and pats him on his back

Inferior in strength and even sense they lack.

But father, can’t we set them straight?

No, son, leave them to their fate.

 

Brothers and sisters we all are

No matter if we’re close or afar

Roy hears this on the radio one day

Baffled by what the priest had to say

Roy asks his father then

Why their country kills those men?

The men with the sickle, hammer and the star

If brothers and sisters we all are.

His father drags him away

Not knowing what to say.

Roy looks his father in the eyes

Tired of all the stupid lies

And asks why wars are being fought

And the lesson never taught?

Author's Note

Anti-War Poem

Reviews

[Gheeneil]

A child is just so inquisitive. He asks whatever comes to mind. As innocent as he is, the father, as always, acts as a protector who does everything to keep him from anything displeasing to the senses. Though by doing so, he doesn't just preserve his innocence but he does also inject some ignorance in him. Perhaps, this is something that conveys a very important message which has long been left unnoticed and unheeded by men.

[Sara Muschweck]

You have become so skilled at poetry. The story is so well written, the child growing up with questions that the father can't answer. Why everyone should be treated as family except for those men who follow different paths than ours? I like that this has no specific politics or message, just that maybe we should look at how war is through the eyes of a child, strange confusing, and just not how we should be with the world. Great write.