War zone, stained with flesh and blood,
Destruction by titanic flood.
Tears of angels meet no ground,
Caught by cold machine gun rounds.
Soldiers lie dead in my wake,
A coward shot them, stilled their shakes.
No more bodies greet my stare,
Charred remains are all that's there.

For days we fought, for days I shot,
For days those monsters' deaths I sought.
"They're not human," my CO said
"Waste 'em all, and kill 'em dead!"
Following orders is my job,
I'd think, with ev'ry grenade I lobbed.
I no longer call myself a man,
A killing machine is what I am. 

"A soldier's what my son shall be,
He'll keep the country safe for me!"
No choice was given; my debts I paid,
Before a soldier I was made.
"Give me a gun; I'll show 'em what for,
I'll send them to 'forevermore!'"
They sent me to some dry he**-hole,
Killing "them" now was my goal.

I'd never seen such mean estates,
As what I saw in this backward state.
Bullet holes in every door,
Walls and tables, even floors.
Doesn't matter, I told myself,
That's the reason we're here to help. 
Just ten weeks, and then I'm done,
But I'll make sure this war is won. 

Now, I'm already two weeks in
To this bleeding pile of sin. 
Dignity, always left forgotten,
Battle scars are all I've gotten. 
Always sweating like a pig,
My lips hold on to my last cig. 
Wars like this are beyond dreams.
Worse than everything you have seen. 

Standing in a crimson pool,
I look at the reflected fool,
Who thought that he could win a war
And be remembered in tomorrow's yore. 
Naïve young soldier, suddenly chilled
By realization of all he's killed. 
Innocence is cast aside,
Gone to the abyss, pulling down my pride

"That's it," I said, and dropped my gun. 
"I can't take it. No more. I'm done.
Find someone else to pierce their hides,
With lead holes .5 inches wide."
I fell to my knees, and proceeded to weep,
Into piles of bodies nearly 3 feet deep. 
A soldier I was, but as of today,
Mark me down as KIA. 

I'm proud to be an American,
And that will ever ring true,
But a soldier's life is not for me,
Forever am I through. 
"Desertion" is the name they give
To what I have just done,
But, truth is, I think it's better
Than a war that's never won.