Randy E. Richmond

WAR AND GAMES

When just little boys, those who made the most noise
Were the victors in make – believe war
With cap guns and sticks, we’d get in our licks
Dirt clod grenades would explode with our roar

Sand burrs were the flack for our non-lethal attack
Though they stung our skin like a bee
I’d laugh with delight when we won the fight
Guess it was the young child in me

Well into my teens and too big for my jeans
I had heard of a war… over there
So like a young fool, I dropped out of school
Not to go just wouldn’t be fair

My training was rough and my teachers were tough
I was ready to be all I could be
They won’t stand a chance on our first advance
That was the daydreamer in me

Now it’s thirty some years since I faced my first fears
A reality check like no other
Longer still where we’d hide and choose up our sides
To play war with my friends and brothers

These days I pray that wars go away
I smile at the thought of world peace
My dreams for our youth now that I’m long in the tooth
Is for all the Earth’s conflicts to cease

My hope is the games are not the sad same
For this grandchild that sits on my knee
For war has no winners, only dead, changed, and sinners
This comes from the soldier in me