Saeed Tavakkol

[Original poem in Persian]

In the name of God

In defense of motherland,

For the cause of liberty

The purity of race

Or all of the above

I’ve shed so much blood

In history of mankind and

Died millions of times.

I know thousands of ways to kill

And one way to die.

I don’t ever make decisions

Thinking is not so wise

As everyone knows in the army

Questioning is not advised.

I have evolved of course

Wars are humane, much cleaner now

I hardly ever see death and destruction

With my own eyes.

Pushing a button from above

Destruction of enemy below

Perish thousands of lives

Reduce towns to rubbles

In a blink of an eye

It’s a game, I have been told.

And the losers are sometimes

Comrades blown into pieces,

Parts of myself fallen on the ground.  

However,

If I come back home alive

I am told to reset my mind

Carry on as usual

 Forget all I had done

Until the next war comes along.

Yet, if I fail to live a normal life

Haunted with nightmares

If I act erratic, emotionally disturbed,

Or have an itch to kill everyone,  

Then my condition is called PTSD

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

“Not to worry”, doctors say

“These are common syndromes

Among veterans of foreign wars,

More popular than

Syphilis and gonorrhea combined.

The good news is

Therapy and medications

Are available now.”



As a hero I always am

On the right side of history

The lower corner of the page

In the margin, remembered as unknown.

As a patriot and a warrior

I execute orders  

Because I am a soldier

My head is precious

Only when it’s lost.

[Original poem in Persian]