Things Poetic

Conscription Growing up with the idea of conscription is going to be a new idea If the worst predictions are right When threats of ward trip into preparations For wars Or  Deployments for wars Gap years wont happen any longer Deferred till after Will there be places to go  After ? Waiting for that letter in the post I’d guess it’ll be email now ? Saying Your time has come young man or woman To do your duty And learn to defend, to fight, to stop the enemies doing to you back Frightened, shaking hands hold the letter, the laptop, the phone ‘When’…’where’….’Why me’ All the questions we asked as teenagers All the options we looked at All our hopes and dreams

 escape The letter arrived this morning, telling me my fate "...report to ...." Hanging on every day, to find ways to avoid that destructive world, confused inside, hating the feeling of cowardice, but also feeling right not to want to "join up" to fight who ? My friend Pule ? My fellow students ? why ? They are me and I am them.  Human, equal, equally fighting for their lives as they should be not as they are  the beige or blue shapes on, in or alongside the trucks as they cause mayhem, crushing lives, destroying lives,  bringing the world down around them Grab the thread of a chance, and a week later, Im in a car off to the airport then in a plane a ferry a bus a taxi "get some sleep and lets catch up in the morning" a whole new world but my world was back there, the mountains, the crashing waves, pushing the bodies back to the beach feeling the southern sun on my face, shoulders thats my world and yet now, no longer escaped but now imprisoned in my mind...