Vincent P. Magombe

"WAR MEALS"
An anti-war poem by Vincent P. Magombe


Foreword: (Before the Poem)

This War-Poem is my Tribute: to the most Innocent Victims of any War - the Children! The Children Die... They are injured... Maimed... They are Orphaned... Dejected... Rejected... Hated... Without ever knowing "WHY"!

"Dive for cover!": a father shouts at his 5-year old son!
"Don't cry... Soon it'll be over!": a mother tells her 3-year old daughter!
"Don't look at that mutilated body!": an old man advises his 7-year old grand-child!

"Children... Shut Up, Run Fast Across the No-Man's-Land... And Dive into the Trench on the Other Side of The Road!": It's an Order from the Sergeant Major... A Group of Hysterical Children, aged between 4-9, must do as they are told!

O, Lord... We - the Adults... the Talented Warriors... The War-Mongers... The War-Lovers... Oooh, How We think - "We are Very Clever!": The Presidents - who Order the Wars... The Generals who Plot the Ancient "Fantastic" Spectacle... The War-Lords - who Enjoy the "Extra-Ordinary" Drama... The Scientists - the Human Geniuses... who Create the Stealth Bomber, the Mig-Bomber, the Katusha-Missile, the Grad-Missile, the Kalashnikov Machine-gun... the Warrior Tanks... the Helicopter Gunships... Oooh, How We think - we're Very Clever!

Oh, Yes... We are Clever... Very Clever... Extremely Clever... But, Why Can't we answer one Small Question - The Children's Small Question... Which question, Excuse Me? <Will You Read or Listen to the Poem Below, P-l-e-a-s-e!>


THE POEM -

"WAR MEALS"
(By Vincent P. Magombe)


At Breakfast,
             The Children ate Bullets -
Fired From the Mouths of Their Fathers...


And at Lunch,
             They ate Time-Bombs -
Hidden in the Breasts of Their Mothers...


At Supper,
             They licked the Blood -
From the Wounds of Other Children...


But... "Where Is The Milk?"
              They Asked...


And No One... Could Answer!

Vincent P. Magombe
Copyright by Vincent P. Magombe