I can still remember
The day it took place
My wife had just finished cooking
My son and I had filled our plates
She smiled as she watched us eat
So beautiful in the dress she wore
My son, growing up so fast—
Wishing we weren't in a time of war
My wife heard a knock at the door,
She opened it to Susanna,
our neighbor,
Holding tight to her son.
My wife welcomed them in
As the sun began to cool and fade.
"May I leave my child with you?"
She asked me kindly.
Her question was answered blindly,
Thinking only of her smile,
Not the war around us.
She walked off,
Leaving behind her baby, Kyle.
Soon afterward,
I heard another knock at the door.
I opened it to see men with guns.
"Get down on the floor!"
One said to me harshly.
They stormed into my home,
Killed the woman I adored,
And wounded me partially.
They forced me and the kids to the street
And presented the cruelest decision:
"Which child would you like to keep,
And which should receive eternal sleep...Permanently?"
"Choose, and you walk away free,"
The general said coldly to me;
While I knelt,
Bleeding from the knee.
I thought in my mind,
If I let them kill someone's child,
It would be unkind;
People would think I was wrong.
Already lost my wife; if I let them kill my only son,
I'd never forget what I had done.
"You've got twenty more seconds!"
He barked at me.
My heart raced in my chest,
My mind began to freeze,
Along with my shivering feet.
He aimed the gun at baby Kyle,
"Do you want him to live,
Or do you want him dead?"
I cried, "Please, stop!"
He laughed, aiming at the children's head.
I watched his final countdown,"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4..."
I screamed, "Take my life instead!"
He persisted, wanting one of the boys dead.
"3, 2, 1!..."I yelled, "STOP!"...
And then, the deed was done.
They walked away;
I had done the world a disservice—
I let them kill my only son.
Everything is now over,
I have become a life saver.
©dav754
D