My Country Lied

poem in rhyming quatrains.I ambic tetrameter

 

My country lied

 

I lack the urge but have the skill.

My country taught me how to kill.

I had no choice could not refuse

nobody asked me for my views.

 

They said my country needed

to subjugate the enemy.

I was still young, green and naïve.

That I was sure I should believe

 

 that what they told me must be true.

That it was something I should do.

 But I discovered in due course

 we were fighting to enforce

 

on those with just cause for dissent.

 A very unjust settlement,

 the promises my country made

and did not keep. We now forbade

 

 their self determination.

 The right of every nation,

 it was battle we must lose.

The people have the right to choose.

 

To be an independent state

no longer seen as second rate.

Which they achieved eventually

they were not just a colony.

 

On looking back it seems to me

my country lied apparently.

An abuse of authority

 I will not forget easily.

 

I lack the urge but have the skill.

 My country taught me how to kill.

 Though I can say with confidence

I’d only kill in self defence.

 

23-Jun-08

Reviews

[John Stussy]

Good poem about the deceptions of governmental propaganda. It's a sad thing, how much we put our trust in them and they abuse it willingly, on a day-to-day basis. The power the officials hold corrupts very easily, especially when the possible gains of war are presented.

[Deborah Leah Krempa]

A very well written poem. Thank you for sharing. Debileah

[Ray Hamilton]

The strong get stronger, the weak get weaker
Nice write, although I am Canadian " A "
All governments are less than truthful
Thanks Ray { Not a Poet }

[Adela Muresan]

I agree with you on the fact that war negates humanity completely.

It's unbelievable what people with power will do for more power.

A.M.