I Used To Dream

I Used to Dream

They asked an Iraqi
civilian what he
thought of all this.
He looked the Marine
in the eye for a moment,
and said, "I thank God
I am free."

I had to wonder if he
would be just as happy
to live if his arms were blown
off like the little twelve year
old boy on the block.
Behind the eyes of this beautiful
little Iraqi boy was once innocence
and naivety.

Now, he has been forced to grow up
and endure a pain almost too unbearable
to endure for any man, let alone a child.
One day he lived with his parents,
the next day they were gone, and he was
forced to live on without even his arms.
He was just becoming a young man.

Now, he will never know what it is like
to hold his wife with his two arms.
He was told that he was a beautiful little
boy, and the translator translated back in
English for him, "I might look alright on the
outside, but I am not alright within.
I used to have dreams when I used to
think of life.

Now, they've been taken all away, and
I don't dream of my dreams anymore.
I have been liberated from my dreams."
We are making sure that others will never
be able to hold weapons of mass destruction.
Let this little boy serve as a reminder.
I thank God his mother on earth can no longer
see what happened in three weeks that took her
nine months to create.


Lori Ann Day