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This poem and others are available in my books, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things....and, Nothing Special, and Nothing Matters..., available thru Amazon.com, in print and Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble websites.....Also available as an e-book via Smashwords.com. Try this link: www.nothing-works.com for the full array of options.
Here, take this vest,
put it on and go
to that guard post
When it is detonated
you will live
but the enemy will die
But, father, I don't want to
I know better
I'll be killed!
I'm only 9 years old!
A slap! Hard! Knocked to the dirt:
Do as you are told!
You are only a female
with no future
and no other purpose in life
Looking up from the ground,
bruised and bloody:
But, father, I want to live!
I want to be educated!
I want to grow up!
I work all day and night
cleaning our house, cooking,
laboring in the fields,
and caring for the animals
You beat me and give me no thanks!
And now this...
Why can't I have a life?
A future?
01-13-2014 04:42 PM 
