TO A FALLEN ENEMY

The Band played a Susa march, as the men stood at attention.
No eyelid moved, no lip flickered, as all stood there a-listing.
"A Hero", said the General, to all with hearts so proud.
"He is a man we all respect, who'll stand out in any crowd."
"This man did do a wondrous deed!", the General did declare.
"He killed an enemy in combat, he is the man of the hour!"

Yes, it's true that I had done this thing considered great.
But was it done with love of all, or was it simply hate?
What about that young man killed? Did a Father lose his son?
Or did he die alone out there, and loved by not a one?
Was he once a baby, his mother thought the best?
Had she given him the breath of life and fed him from her breast?
I wonder if this young soldier, who died there by my hand,
Had ever loved someone, back in His homeland.

I remember well that drama played out upon that hill.
The memory of that awful day, is with me even still.
Oh why men, young indeed, will live through terrible strife,
And bring such awful hurt into another person's life.
That adventure is now a memory of long, long ago.
Life is something, now past, that young enemy will never ever know.
- - -Tom Nance

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