Cross-hairs

A soldier on the street

passes a woman with a pram

his finger on the trigger

his mind already programmed.

Eighteen years of age

and sent to do a dirty job

by politicians who have no interest

in how many lives they can rob.

Do as you are told

and never question authority,

take no prisoners and always

ignore the waving of a white hankie.

Children in the cross-hairs

at the opposite end of a gun

their lives torn apart

and each one a mothers son.