When Will It End?

by Eran Hatuak, Asat Yaron and Liran Dagan, Grade 11,
Amal Comprehensive School for Sciences and Arts, Hadera

He was playing with his friends
Cops, thieves and war games
Suddenly he got a scratch on his hand,
And fell heavily on the sand.
Few days later his wound healed
But he kept dreaming about the battlefield.
He wanted to defend his country like his father
But the boy's wish was opposed to his mother's.
Through the years the boy grew up and became a man,
And he joined the army on November ten.
It was hard for his mother to accept it in her mind
Because she knew her son was too kind
So now he is there, you can hear his mother cry
And pray that her son will not die.

But the reality was cruel to them both
Like a bad curse, like an evil oath.
He got a bullet in his chest
Ans started losing blood in haste.
Then he realized that his dream was not blood on a knife
But only having a family and living his life.
But now it is too late for him.
He was buried together with his dream.

But the soldier has a brother,
Whose wish is to be a hero like his father ...

Oh God, when will this death kiss end?
And a voice said: "When you make peace, my friend!"

This poem previously appeared in The Student's Word, The Comprehensive High School for Sciences and Arts, Amal Hadera, May 1998.

Amal Hadera school site

© 1998, Amal Pedagogical Technological Center