From Here To Sarajevo

I felt like Stephen Crane after I wrote this poem.

Nina Radvic has a story to tell
Of how she went through living hell

It started back in the Balkans
Where tensions raged like screeching falcons
An army marched into her city
Killing many people, it was s****y

The butcher in Belgrade needed an example
To break the will of freedom, have it trampled
In a camp already packed, Nina heard bombs
Whistle and blow-up, killing kids, dads and moms

Serb officers then came to the camp
And attached an entire family to a ramp
Nina hid in a hole at her father's orders
Find a way to the Croatian border

Safety in her grandmother's arms
Away she'll stay from death and harm
Shot went off, moans and screams came her way
She needed to be free, at that second that very day

She ran, she ran, she ran without compunction
Living on, living on, that was her only function
A Serb regular saw Nina's movement
Reacting swiftly, miss and he blew it

A sharp aim through a scope
That young girl could never cope
He pulled the trigger on his rifle
No shiver, no pause caused him stifle

The bullet lodged in Nina's back
She went down with a heavy smack
Nina convulsed in pain, hearing those words
Her father told her, fly my dear like the birds

Of the sky, don't look back, you will be with us
Mommy, Poppy, Sissy, and even our doggy Gus
Nina closed her eyes, white light came upon her
A soft voice said, you are safe now, happy as you were

From here to Sarajevo, stories are told and stories are heard
Many died because of evil men, many bodies are left for birds
To peck at, to pick apart because scavengers know no better
But evil men should, they know the law down to the last letter

And the innocents left to rot in sulfurous pits and open piles
And the cops of the world send the F16s thousands of miles
All because the Balkans are becoming the famous powder keg
And the butcher of Belgrade laid the last rotten, sulfuric egg