Picked up from the playground <br />cornered, <br />stolen from their dead mother's lap; <br />sisters raped, <br />orphaned they are now, orphaned <br />human shields <br />mamma's little boys they are no more. <br /> <br />Now they belong to the lord, fight they must, <br />for their brothers, <br />brave heroes, armed are they for their nation, <br />or so they are told <br />no rhymes here but chants of destruction <br />fear, no fear <br />grenade and a gun on their tiny shoulders. <br /> <br />In air conditioned rooms, the law makers in designer black suits, <br />cry ' foul' <br />greed has had them, few more bucks to make, <br />children after all <br />in some god forsaken place, they can wait. <br /> <br />Whipped, scared, confused, without another way <br />they become little soldiers. <br />With the little one's blood the men clean their hands <br />Sleep, how can anyone sleep? <br />in the land where little soldiers have laid their lives <br /> <br /> <br />Inspired by the movie 24 Redemption which reduced me to tears. <br />May another child never be forced into war again.<br /><br />Reshma Ramesh<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/little-soldiers/
