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Quatern Nr.02 — Firing Squad

Today we shot a man who ran away    
conscripted ‘gainst his will to fight a war,    
an organist who fled to go and play    
his Sunday hymns amongst the district’s poor    
    
And 10 of us made up the firing squad:    
today we shot that man who ran away    
his adam’s-apple quivered rather odd -    
we squeezed the triggers ‘midst a windless day    
   
Last week he played the hymns for us, I say  
he played them very well, and no mistake;  
today we shot him dead - he’d run away    
an act of desperation - make or break    
   
He’s not the first you know we’ve had to shoot    
but trained we are to follow and obey    
last week we shot a man who played the flute -    
today we shot the man who ran away.
Written by Josh (Joshua Bond)
Published | Edited 8th Mar 2024
Author's Note
I penned this poem after reading David MacLeod's "The Valiant 306", entered in the 'Anti-War Poem' contest I'm hosting - and which ends this Sunday, Armistice Day 11th November.

Quatern Nr.01 can be found here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/324790-last-sunday-in-october-a-quatern/
Quatern Nr.03 can be found here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/326908-the-queen-of-quaterns-for-jade-pandora/

(photo credit: crawford-jolly-ya_In_bWyQI-unsplash)
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