A Soldiers Response

A point of view that I have yet to hear and thought I would give mine. It is not my trade, spoken word and the like, but everyone deserves a voice and a chance to respond. Remember this is spoken word, read it aloud and with some conviction. :)


I've seen the other side of this argument
with trembling hands
I've stepped on foreign lands
breathed in foreign sands
as my lungs
along with my soul
longed to crumble
from this oppressive heat

I've seen the other side of this argument
I've rolled by
with my American arrogance
my blood thirsty ways
as I caught the sparkle of a tear
in a little girl's eye
as she waved and said thank you
in a language I did not understand
but I understood.

I've seen the other side of this argument
I've come home
with our vital soil clutched in my hand
wounded
with no holes in me
with no scars that you could see
inflicted by a hypocritical voice
that says I support you
I just don't support what you do

I've seen the other side of this argument
I've watched attentively
as a man in a senate seat
with silver words and rolling diction
dictates to you from CNN
Nodding your agreeance
safely from your couch
all the while passing judgement on me
lacking the courage to ask what I believe

I've seen the other side of this argument
I believe in a world full of pacifists
but I believe that dream can not be achieved
in a world where tyranny and oppression breath
I know you would not send your child
thousands of miles over a vast sea to die
for some people who do not look like you
or live near you
I know you would not die for thier rights as people
but I would
I gladly take this violence into my hands
so that you do not have too
So that one day all the people of the world
can look down upon me with a tinge of disgust
and not just you.

I've seen the other side of this argument
And so I can't because of time and distance
and that I am white
call this a form of slavery
Where the will of the many live and die
by the whim of a few
Still I do my part
to fight the sins of my ancestors
to show my difference
from my father
my fathers father
my fathers fathers father
Is that not what all great men of this country did
from running railroads
to fighting wars
somethings in this life
are worth the blood that they cost
I've seen the other side of this argument
And I just thought you might understand