Three snipers stand alert,

ready to fire, ready to kill.

The man, the pedestrian, the grandpa

placidly strolls the abandoned streets.

A Bible in his hands, a silent prayer upon his lips

He knows the snipers are there,

God whispered it in his ear before he came.

After he had regained his vigor from the bombing last night,

he pointedly decided to leave his caged prison he had once         called home

to show the world his courage, his resilence.

He isn't afraid of what men can do.

In his eyes, only God can devastate him.

With a grimace, the soldiers nod their heads in hushed    agreement.

The orders were clear-no survivors.

The steel cylinder is c***ed, lethal, and poised,

raised to the man's source of life.

As he joyfully whistles "I'll Fly Away" one last time,

the bullet meets its victim with cold indifference.

Just another casualty today

  Two pilots sent out on a mission

to recover the nuclear warhead.

Driven out into the raging seas

by their country's commanding naval force,

they lift off into the wild blue yonder.

For a moment they feel at peace,

weightless as the clouds above,

but that vulnerable sentiment is violently shaken

by the crackling lightening and the rumblings of the sky  overhead.

How foolish their country must be

to be blinded by the desire to be superior!

Their thoughts spin in circles as the plane propels them onward,

maneuvering the steel trap through the towering pillars of  densely packed air,

The eyes of the pilots stare forward aggressively,

dauntingly aware of their slim chance of survival.

No matter how loud the wind howls

to turn back, to take heed of the merciless storm,

they will not surrender. They are soldiers

trained to fight until the bitter, bloody end.

Good judgment is regarded with disdain.

No man shall give up until his last breath be taken away.

Their fear turns to ruthless apathy.

Suddenly, the plane careens as a mighty rod strikes the  heavens.

The combustion is immediate.

There is, but one parachute untouched by the scorching flames.

One of the men snatches it, his will to survive morphing him into   a rapacious shark.

Thinking of nothing but himself, he catapults into the unbridled     depths below.

The captain can only stand motionless as the fire scathes his       trembling skin.

Then comes the explosion, the ripping of steel, the carnage left   behind.

The plane's charred carcass was found days later.

The copilot turns his shameful face away.

Just another casualty today

   Left behind is a wife with a baby on the way.

The husband is dead, but she does not know.

Their two kids press their expectant faces to the glass window,

waiting eagerly for Daddy to come back home.

Each night they pray, they beg, they beseech the Lord,

never asking for His will to be done.

In another country far away, 

a groom weeps for his lost love.

He gave his whole heart to her,

but alas, she gave her whole life for him.

In the end, neither family can find comfort.

Under a war torn sky, no one is left unmarked.

Yet those who wish for dominance, for war, are left unharmed-

not a hair on their heads was singed-

because for them, every death, every lost soul

is just another casualty today.