Soldier for a Wrongful Cause

No soldier is as weary

as the one for a wrongful cause.

Pressed into service

for the enemy

from an early age.

An unwilling collaborator

not resisting enough

to merit rejection.

Worn out from years of

fighting against a friend

and against self.

Without is rebellion;

within is civil war.

It is a fight to the death,

hoping to lose.

William E. Rushman, January 1998