I haven't written anti-war poetry since i was a kid. That was the time of the Vietnam war.

In those days conscription (the draft) truly focused the mind of teenagers.

Here are a couple of anti-war poems that I wrote at about age 13. They're nothing special-- send me your anti-war poetry, and if it is better, i'll happily replace these.

The Soldier

He lay upon a grassy hill
And waited for the enemy.
With bayonet and iron will
He waited for eternity.

He swore revenge to friends in graves
And memorized the dying breath
Of every man he'd tried to save--
But only learned the truth-- in death.

Conscription

The old man sits in a high-back chair.
On a legal pad he carefully scrawls
And the look upon my face recalls
To him a vivid memory.
And the pen from his hand quivers and falls.
He cocks his head in a silly way
As he stares at the confines of four grey walls,
And his red blood throbs in his temples grey.
The old man rests in a high-back chair
As he dreams of eagerness, and despair.
The men he knew, so young, so brave!
And the sadness at his brother's grave.
His wonders, worries, doubts, and fears
That he again will shed sad tears
Are manifest, in an old man's way
On this, his son's conscription day.

Anti-war Poetry