You stormed into our town, shiney boots strike
Seed beaten ground, contention in your hand.
A  proposition in your mind
You asked us to lay down our shovels, our gloves.
Exchange them, we did.
Who were we to question you?

Come one and come all!
Hear our pleas men!
Strong fellers like yourself deserve your chance.
Be valiant! Be courageous!
Here. Have a gun. a grenade
Or two.

It’s your job to bring the peace
That your parents once knew.
I’m telling ya it’s only a safety pin away.
Just pull.

War was no place for boys.
But who cares?
I am a man.
Don't you shed those tears, now.
Don’t you let them fall their lonely descent.
Didn’t you hear them?
We may even be on that television, right
Over there. 
Could you imagine Ma?
Your own son, fighting the good fight.

War was no place for my child.
But who cares when boys are no
Longer boys.
Just barriers.
You took them, scrubbed them clean of morals.
Promised them blazoned glory.
You cloaked them in
Patriotism,
Ripened pupils underneath a foreign sky.
Stood tall, those unwavering flags
Unaware that their skeletons and
Promises of gallantry
Destined to rot in an alien land

But don’t it all make sense?
That our boys soiled hands were too
Unsightly to shake but yours were too
Clean for blood.