Ellipse #78(…candy bar)

Saw a kid in a gas mask today
Five years old- maybe four
Stole a Hershey bar from the remains
of a burnt down store.

Riot gear and hopscotch
Slingshots and hand grenades.

Well, that kid- with that precious chocolate in hand
He found a soldier, lying on the ground
And there, he kneeled down
The soldier had a gut shot wound
And bits of shrapnel in his small intestine
In his hand,
a photograph of his wife he rubbed
with a bloody thumb.
From the waist down, he began to grow numb

And that kid in that gas mask
He looked down with a bit of pity

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poem by Joe Guillotin
Added by Poetry Lover
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