A figure
Lies
On the battlefield
A bullet in his heart
Filling him with agony
That he cannot bear
Tears fall
He is only eighteen

Blood streams
Down his body
Painting his check
Decorating his carcass
Tears
Mix with blood
And create a morbid portrait
He takes a shuddering breath
Before
He goes still
He is only eighteen

He will never
Go to college
Graduate Magna Cum Laude
And laugh with his friends
At some
Fraternity party
Or think about his future
To become
A lawyer
A doctor
A teacher
A writer
He doesn’t have a future
He’s dead
He is only eighteen

He will never meet
His soul mate
Someone who would
Stand
By his side
Forever
And never stop
Mourning
When he died
Someone who makes
Him light up
When she walks in the room
He never met her
How could he
He is only eighteen

He will never have children
To teach him to love someone
More than yourself
Who you’d put your
Life on the line for
Every second
Of everyday
Someone who sees the good in you
And not the bad
Who think their daddy’s
A hero
No matter what happens
He is only eighteen

He did
Not die
Peacefully
In his sleep
A smile
On his
Face
Snuggling
Into his wife
One kid
At college
Graduating
Magna cum laude
Another
Happily engaged
To his soul mate
He did not die
At one hundred
Or ninety
He is only eighteen

He died
When a bullet
Pierced his heart
Blood spurting out
Of his chest
Leaving him
To die
Alone
On the freezing ground
He was only eighteen