A/N: Inspired by Siegfriend Sassoon's Suicide in the Trenches. Not my best poem, I'm afraid.

I Once Dated a Soldier Boy
by Restless Thoughts

I once dated a soldier boy,
one who came home from war.
He lived inside a little dark world
where he couldn't see the light at all.

He'd never let me kiss him,
as if he'd blow up any minute.
He was always looking at his feet,
trying not to fidget.

I once dated a soldier boy,
one who had killed other boys.
He never talked about the things he'd seen,
but acted like a gun's a toy.

I tried to reach out to him,
and it seemed that he would come through.
But the army called him back again
to the scarred territory of war.

I once dated a soldier boy,
our love limited to letters.
His handwriting showed that he was shaking,
but I didn't know what was wrong.

I should have known better,
I should have seen the signs.
One afternoon I received a letter,
saying he had died.

I once dated a soldier boy,
the one who put a bullet in his brain.
My family was deeply devastated
but never spoke of him again.

I once loved a soldier boy,
the one the government drove to the grave.
I see other soldier boys on the street
and pray it never happens again.