Lord,

Please don’t stand off to the side
While someone aims for my head and fires
Before I remember that I have legs.

Do not turn me
Into another lump of coal
To fuel the war machines of either faction.

Do not reduce me to the spark
In a soldier’s eye as they gut the enemy
With a blade as sharp as their purpose.

Do not make me another sad footnote of history
While the lucky ones heave sighs of
‘Thank goodness things are different, now!’

Do not let my killers
Get away with what they did,
Insisting you’ll vouch for them.

Do not force me to serve
As an example,
A statistic,

A warning,
A practice run for the Real Deal,
Whatever excuse that will be washed clean

Long after I’m gone,
Stains still faint
Only under blacklight.

And please don’t let me
Spare anyone the trouble
Of my existence.

Amen.