Per Cod
JUSTIFYING THE INJUSTICE
(Children in the Scope)
the sound you hear
is not the same
is nothing like
the little feet
running through your house
your home
be not fooled!
their smiles
tiny hands
laughter
only cloud your vision
hiding their true colours
they are
our enemies of tomorrow
they will
sink a knife in your back
if you do not
slit their throat
have no pity
on the spawn of deepest Hell
if he lives to see tomorrow
your sons and daughters will
reap the sorrow
think not
of your little one
at home
remember only
what will be
if we don’t succeed
our only hope
is to rid the world
of their kind
for good
our one and only chance
to avoid the vengeance
©Copyright March 1, 2004 by Per Cod
Author’s Note: I tried to write some words to go with this piece, but nothing seemed to fit. I’ve called it “justifying the injustice”, but that doesn’t really cut it either.
I’m trying to imagine what goes through the minds of those targeting children in war. Some use children to get at parents and relatives, but sometimes the children are as much of a target as grown ups.
During the “ethnic cleansing” that took place in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, children were murdered so that they would not grow up and revenge the killing of their parents or indeed keep their bloodline alive. There are as many stories as there are people in this place, but many of those that targeted civilians (adults and children alike) state fear of revenge from the children as they grew up as one reason for killing them.
This is what I’ve tried to capture here, but it doesn’t quite come out right. Guess I’m too close to it all still, especially now that I’m back in-country.
Submitted for the March 2004 IWVPA Club theme Project, “Children”