David Krieger's Haunting Poetry: A Wake-Up Call

Nor does Krieger let us pretend we are not complicit in the crimes of our leaders. In "Rules of Engagement," he writes:

"Golden like a shower." - U.S. Marine

Three Afghan men lay dead on their backs in the dirt.
Above them, four U.S. Marines in battle gear celebrate
by urinating on them. These young Marines
with their golden showers are holding up a mirror
to America. It reminds us: this is who we are.

When we teach our children to kill we turn them
into something we don't understand: ourselves.
Their lack of humanity is not different from ours.
We have not taught these young men to value life,
but they are teaching us how little we do.

Why should they hold back when we have
taught them and sent them to kill other men -
men whose names they will never know?
If we are shocked by their disrespect for the dead,
we should consider our own for the living.

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