With Toy Soldiers in his Hand

The small boy sat in his navy-colored room
With toy soldiers in his hand
He dreamt of war and struggle
With those toy soldiers fighting in some fantasy land
His soldiers shot their pretend guns with enemies ducking for cover
Behind the tufts of the white pillow expanse arranged on his bed
He never thought that all the blood and battle, the aggression was real

That small boy went to high school one day
He still looked at the fighting with ease
He thought of those soldiers, fighting for him,
And he thought they were doing as they had pleased
He did not pay mind to them until a soldier came to his school
He said, “We fight for our right to uphold the flag despite the obstacles we face”
That boy went home with valor in his heart and courage on his mind, urged by the words the soldier had said

With the day of graduation not too far away
The boy announced what his future was to be
He went off to war on that departure day
With his family drowned in tears
He reassured them he would be back, but no one listened to his words
For the boy didn’t know what was coming in that distant land

He stood on the battlefield, men were scattered and the river beside him ran red
Desperate and doubtful, frightened and anxious
Gunshots rang out and he hid on the rock-strewn ground for cover
Running from stone to stone, he escaped from the blasts
But in a split second, a bullet found its way to his chest
He fell with a hole right though his heart

But the small boy did not think of all this
As he sat in his navy-colored room
He didn’t know how it would feel to be fighting as well
In a once fantastical land
Nothing could prepare him for the trials to come
Not even the toy soldiers in his hand