There was no escape
It was no passing phase for the thousands held at gunpoint
Digging their own graves
Or for those used
to fuel the fires
Or as slaves in factories
Or those dying for an empire that would crumble to its knees
Do you see their
bloodied faces when you close your eyes?
Or hear their breaking voices begging for their lives?
Kill anything that
moves
Anything that breathes
Twenty-five years later wake up screaming from your dreams
The smell of burning flesh
Etched in
memory
Remnants of a war that will never sleep