based on a photograph called "Boy With Gun"
taken by Jessica Brandi Lifland
in Peyu, Kosovo October 1999
a ghostly image from a photograph
calls out to my soul
from a land I never visited
and really never knew
existed before
and I wonder just how people can
possibly be so unfeeling as to
steal the innocence from
a little child such as him
innocence that I took for
granted inside the fairy tale
crystal palace that I
lived in as a youth
of course it was only
make believe but grim reality
never intruded into my world
of multi-hued rainbows
that transported me beyond
my petty troubles
unlike this child
the young boy
from Kosovo
he stands poised this warrior
that should only be fighting
make believed monsters typical
of childhood that all
children do or playing
dodge ball with his
friends neighbors
not ducking real bullets
aimed by some
half crazed soldier
the child in the picture
he witnessed unspeakable
monstrosities made
worse by the reality
of it all grieving
as close friends bled
and died in but the
golden spring of
their childhood
I played war as a
child but never
like this lad with
real bullets and guns
I can eaily place
my child who I
never knew existed
too easily into
this scene
shining light brown hair
blown around by a
light breeze
but instead of endless
gales of laughter
streaming out of him
only silent pain
radiates out from
eyes made ancient
before their time
the final touch
the final horror
attracts my sight
instead of a ball
or a prized toy
he holds a gun
in his small grasp
I wonder about
mankind's future
as I turn sadly
away don't they
realize that by
destroying the
innocence of youth
they destroy the
hope of the
Earth's redemption
Paul Vernon Deffendall
March 1, 2001
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