(1983)
…I’m running scared, I’m running fast, I’m running for my life
While soldiers fire from the left and rebels shoot from the right
The sound of death is a deafening boom from all the bloody strife
But as a nine-year-old boy, it shook me to the core with fright…
The war had been a distant murmur far away in the countryside
But like wildfire it was making its way to the capital and the city
Soldiers would haul off men and boys from buses, being pried
So many dismembered bodies lying on the streets without pity
We would hear rumors of massacres and killings in small towns
But the government always lied and denied any wrongdoing
We would hear distant explosions that even shook the ground
Curfews and burning buses and all the chaos of a civil war stewing
And the casualties – men, women and so many children of all ages
Innocent bystanders who were at the wrong place and the wrong time
Under suspicion, many were executed by the fury that war wages
Brutalizing a people, perpetuated by these dehumanizing crimes
To this day, I still remember that Sunday afternoon and warm breeze
I was at a friend’s house playing with toys just a block away
I can still hear the quiet in the house and feel the cool tile on my knees
When the sudden noise of gunfire brought chaos to the day
I ran outside somehow worried that my grandmother would be mad
But I started walking toward the intersection of the bloodbath
My house was just on the other side but the shootout was really bad
Bullets whizzed by with a frenzy of fierce ire and terrible wrath
And that’s when I saw her, my grandmother on the other block
Yelling but I couldn’t hear her due to the loud firing machine guns
While the opponents shot at each other and before I could talk
I understood her gesture and without thinking I just began to run
Call it luck, a miracle, or divine intervention that would bring me no harm
With soldiers to the left of me and rebels to the right, the situation dire
Me, a nine-year-old boy running scared toward my grandmother’s arms
But I’ll never forget the hail of bullets when I got caught in the crossfire
Powerfully penned, Wally. A very heartfelt write my friend. Thanks so much for sharing. Appreciate you.
Damian
Thank you Damian.
It’s an impressionable memory that still seems vivid in my mind from time to time. Either way, I’m glad to be here and share with others.
This had my heart pounding for you. That is something I would never want for anyone to experience in their lives. It does happen though.
Hi Fia,
It all happened so fast and yet the memory of it is still fresh in my mind after so many years. Now that I read books and stories I’m baffled at how bad (or worse) it was for others. There is a movie coming out later this year about one of these massacres. I wrote a piece about it while at DU but I know the movie will tell the heartbreaking story in detail.
Sometimes I’m a little partial to war and the suffering because of it. The futility of the common soldier and civilians. it’s never glamorous and never without suffrage. You wrote it well.
Thank you so much Styxian.
The damage it does to people as a society has long lasting consequences. As I was telling Fia in the previous comment, the movie coming out later this year will tell more of the stories. We must always learn our history to see where we’ve been so we see the signs ahead.
Hope you’re doing well.