Taking a Stand

by Mushroom Montoya

Mutiny is punishable by death

Or a life of imprisonment,

And so is cowardice

In the face of battle.

 

And isn’t it cowardice

To stay quiet,

Obeying orders

While shutting off our minds,

 

Knowing full well

That our heart is watching,

Our mind is racing

To disengage from the battle

 

Of right and wrong,

True morality,

And the consequences

Of obeying orders?

 

Farmers and fishermen,

Children and their mothers

Are not a danger

Or a threat

 

To the powerful

Big gun battleships,

Fast flying fighter jets,

And life-ending machineguns

 

Of the mighty USA.

 

My heart begs me to stop

Obeying orders

To kill the named enemy

In the name of freedom.

 

I am not free

When I am ordered to kill

A person who has done me no harm,

Whose only crime was being born

 

In enemy territory

 

How do to apologize

To a mom and dad

For killing their son or daughter?

I was just obeying orders?

 

That will never suffice,

Never revive the dead child,

Never give them relief

From never ending grief

 

And now I wash

Over and over

The blood on my hands

That are permanently stained

All the way to my heart.

 

Therefore, I protest

This unholy war,

Knowing the potential consequences

Of disobeying orders,

 

Of leading a protest

That can be labeled a mutiny.

But I must take a stand

Or die from my own

Cowardice.