Poets Against War continues the tradition of socially engaged poetry by creating venues for poetry as a voice against war, tyranny and oppression.

John P. Cleary

35 years old

I have a soldier to thank

I have a soldier to thank. No,
I don't know his name, but I imagine
He's from some tiny Midwestern town,
A legend at his high school, a tough, young NCO
Not yet used to giving orders but pretty good at taking them.
I wish to thank him for setting aside
That sick lurch I hope he felt in his heart
When he slipped the stinking sack over the
Bruised man's head and fastened the alligator clips
To his sweating fingers. I need to thank him,
Most of all, for balancing him on that box,
Long enough, at least, for someone to snap the photo,
The one I saw in my morning paper, the one that saved my soul
With the lesson: All pain is real, even theirs,
And any humiliation undercuts the flaking
Foundations of our already tipsy humanity.

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