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No bells ring, instead a shout
Runs through the forest
Of sleeping minors, still lying out
Fearing their lives as each new day
Repeats the question – Who are they?
Rifles drilled and painted green
Supported on the narrow shoulders
Amateurs in war and means
They ask themselves why they’re not older
The chance to write or maybe read
Is long gone as their hearts get colder
They only know to fight and bleed
No games to play for these child soldiers
As one falls down the others cry
Not out of love but fear to die
They wish to run so far away
But the penalties keep them at bay
It does not end; day in, day out
All future hopes are set to bleak
Families give up searching in doubt,
In vain; their sons may be too weak
When all seems lost, one rebel soul
Escapes to find his family
The innocence the army stole
Has disappeared with cruelty
by Jenny Russell
R.E. 5th Year, St. Joseph’s College.
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