If you speak
Against war
While your
Nation's involved,
Your freedom of speech
Isn't appreciated.

The cruelty of
Russian soldiers
Invading Ukraine
Opens a window
To speak against war.

The pain
Of Ukraine
Is exposing
War’s cruel wounds
For the whole world
To see.

The screen shot
Of a Russian soldier
(Now shot dead)
Texting his Momma
Broke my heart.

Soldiers are
A nation’s citizens
Who are treated
Like they’re disposable,
War weapons.

Soldiers don’t decide
Whether they invade
Or defend
But blindly do
What they’re told.

When soldiers hear
Their conscience
Call for restraint,
They’re trained
To resist it.

A soldier’s life
Depends on
His taking the life
Of other soldiers.

When violence is common.
And war is praised,
It takes courage
Not to kill.

Life is better
When people embrace
With bare arms
Instead of bearing arms
To kill.

One person
Orders war,
But tens of thousands
Pull the triggers.

Soldiers are trained
To obey
Not to think,
To kill
Not to show compassion.

There’s one weapon
That’s not
Allowed in war:
Truth.

War is horror
That men do
As they try
To subdue
A nation.

Soldiers compete
In making
Corpses.

War is soldiers
Sold out
To bringing death
To other soldiers.

War dives deep
Into the depths
Of horror
And dies the soul
With darkness.

Bombing civilians
Isn’t a fair fight.
It’s murder.

War is
Bad for
People.

War seems to be
Trenched
Into the human
Psyche.
O, that we
Could dig it out!

NLM
“No Lives Matter”
Howls the horrible
Hound of war.

Nations don’t wage war.
Soldiers do.

War is hell,
Demons
Directing people
To do the devil’s
Dirty work.

“Boots on the ground”
Is a macho sound
That leads
To guts spread around
On the very same ground.

A battleground
Is a place
Where human beings
Were ground into dust.

War teaches
That it’s shameful
To refuse
To kill an enemy.

Surviving soldiers say,
“Our country
Made us do it.”
The dead say
Nothing.

The great harvest
Of war
Isn’t peace.
It’s causalities.

ISA
An "International Soldiers' Association"
Might help soldiers embrace as friends
Instead of killing each other.

When soldiers
Put a commander's orders
Above their conscience,
The evil of war
Has no restraint.

If soldiers had the courage
To listen to and obey
Their conscience,
War would run out of steam.
Instead, war runs over
Their conscience.

As you can see,
Russia's aggressive invasion
Has emboldened me
To pull the trigger
And shoot off a lot
Of antiwar thoughts.

I read this amazing book a few months ago. Every Russian soldier should read it.