A.C. Perri

THE MAKING OF A SOLDIER

Passionately stubborn,
Spoke your mind like you were
Born to, while others remained
Silent; not that you wanted to—
You had to; watched the earth
Turn in the opposite direction,
The blue above to crimson—
For what? A system that died?
Your voice, strong, carried
A song, named Freedom;
Liberty was castrated, equality
vanquished; it seems overnight,
The world was caught, you
The victim, the scapegoat, a
Prisoner, the escape artist—
And, they clipped your wings;
You saw the unjust, couldn’t
Stand for it— Your mind, a
Fortress, every ounce of Spirit
You had, you fought them;
Life, like vinegar and oil, turmoil
Your home, a beautiful, dismal contradiction;
Your thoughts and theirs on
Separate ends of the spectrum,
Yet, you charged straight ahead
On a steed called Determination,
Used words as spears aimed
Straight for the enemy; your
Words made a difference, you
Showed them… a good poet
Makes the best soldier.


Gerald So's YouTube reading of "The Making of a Soldier"


A.C. confesses: "The current malaise inspired the words to Making of a Soldier; English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote: The pen is mightier than the sword, the words were included in his 1839 play Richelieu, or the Conspiracy. I believe words have power over any given physical force, at any given moment."

A.C. PERRI has been writing creative works for over three decades; her works have been published in local and international journals including Bootleg Magazine, Gems Zine, Brilliant Flash, and several Moonstone Press titles.