Iraq

A soldier
Away from home.
We grieve
For his absence.

Our flag
Flies for his courage.
We weep
To rid ourselves of our pain.

We're afraid
He may not come home.
We cry.
Awaiting his safe return.

WAR

It is a sadness, war.
Full of things an images,
no human should have to do- have to witness.
It’s a bloody machine, war.
Full of death, tears, that no one,
no human should have to see, feel, spill.

A machine that when used properly,
can destroy the lives, customs, values, and countries
that humans have strived to build for centuries past.

Here and Now

Dear President Bush,

Iraq is war,
Iraq is oil,
Iraq is GWB,
Iraq is my friend,
Iraq is my family,
Iraq is loss,
Iraq is gain,
Iraq is unwanted,
Iraq is death,
Iraq is life,
Iraq is everything we already have.

War is blood
Pain and
Fear.
It means
Loss
Suffering and
Loss of cherished lives.
People lose
Husbands
Wives
Mothers
Fathers
Sisters
And brothers.
People can never repair
The damages of war.
Countries lose property
People
And beloved soldiers.
When war begins
The damages
Can never be repaired,
Repaid,
Or Restored.

Well it started out,
When we went to war.
To counter big guns,
We sent the Marine Corps.
Now they don’t know why,
There goes a war.
They think it’s for profit,
Shows who knows more.
We’re saving lives,
And saving those.

Heat, blue yellow, orange, red
Eyes closed, the fire envelopes.
Ears ringing from the impact,
Clothes singed from the power.
No time for life,
Just time to fight,
For life and against it.

No! Saddam Hussein!
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Are not here at all…

Iraq: This is War

By Leah Thomas
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

The dust and the heat
Dry deserts, darkened skies
Walking on tired feet
Out here there is no use for ties
Oil and disaster has made us come
What will make us leave?
Will we fight until numb
Until our homeland has to grieve
We’ve been here too long
But we don’t give in, don’t give up

They'll Be Home Soon

By Julie Boyd
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

Three hundred forty-two days
Eleven hours
Forty-two minutes
And then what?
The man who got us into this mess
Brought us over to Iraq
He’ll be gone
Someone new in his place
But what of the mess
What about the lives lost
Lives fighting
For freedom?
Or for his mistake
Why should we fight his battle

I Live With a Bullet

By Emma Redden
Leland and Gray Union High School, Grade 10

Pray for me…
I am a child. I live in a world created for the strength of mothers, not the vulnerability of children.

Pray for me…
I am a mother. I exist everyday trying to give my child the best life possible. I worry everyday I am not doing a good enough job.
Pray for me…
I am a woman of Iraq. I live everyday under the veil of non existence. I am no different a woman than the rest of the daughters, sisters, wives, filling the streets of our world. I live with the same emotions, the same sentiment, the same zest for life. However, I live with a different tremor, different horror, different trepidation. I live with the fear that the world may find out the woman under the cloth is a fearless lion. Then the lion may die.
Pray for me…
I am Mother Earth. My body is at war. My heart, my soul, and mind, is being put to waste. I have become desolation, destruction, devastation, dilapidation, dissipation. I am afraid. I am afraid that I am no longer fearless, no longer courageous, no longer intrepid. I am afraid I am no longer my own hero. I fear becoming a ghost, a skeleton. I fear I will become a drift of dust blowing by my own being.
Pray for me…
I am an Iraqi mother holding her crying child under the protection of the tire of a tank shooting missiles killing any victim in its line of destruction.
Pray for me…
I am a mother trying to protect her baby from the cruelty of this world, from the cruelty of war. My home is in shambles. My heart is in pieces. I have no house, never mind a home. I find shelter under a tank. I find safety, no where…
Pray for me…
I live with a bullet.

Iraq
The word brings
Many images
To my head
Flashing before
My eyes.
Bombs,
Terror,
Fire,
Soldiers,
War.
But also
The people
Of this
Country torn by war
Living everyday
In fear
For their lives
Wondering if
Their house will
Still be standing tomorrow,
If their children will still be alive,
If their friends will move away,
If they will still have jobs.

I wonder when we will all get out
Ready to give their lives the soldiers are
Another car bomb, casualties increase
Questioning the reasons why we’re there

When will it all end?
Alive we hope the soldiers will stay
Remembering those who have fallen

Skies of Gray

By Samantha Burns
Fairfield Center School, Grade 8

Twisting and turning
Every night
Memories and flashbacks
From the fight

Death and destruction
In every dream
Watch them fall
While families scream

‘Run and Shoot’
Was all you thought
Over in Iraq
While you fought

Medals and awards
Only bring back
The pain you caused
Trying to get your life on track

Images and sounds
Are forever etched
Into your mind
The truth is stretched

Trying and failing
To forget those days
The bombing and shooting
With those skies of grey

In the line of fire
Running into a battle that may decide your life
Always having to watch your back
Quitting crosses your mind, but you never will

I don’t think of the word Iraq very often, but when I do, nothing will come to mind at first, but when its dumped into my pool of thoughts, ideas will start to creep towards the surface as a bubble. This one bubble, it's whispering that there’s a struggle of peoples.

Iraq

Iraq is many things,
why we are over there,
most people don't know.
as we are in school,
safe and and sound,
the young women and men,
are over there,
risking there life,
while we sit in our chairs,
learning our grammar,
without harm.
what if you were there?
risking your life.
for the families back in our america,
casually walking the streets,

Iraq

By Lydia Garland
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 7

War,
Soldiers,
Desert.

All things I think of when I hear “Iraq”.

Teacher,
Death,
Waiting.

Waiting for what?

Innocent Children,
Women,
Men.

Not one person is safe from this.

End,
Beginning,
Middle

The end of war, the beginning of peace, the middle of life.

Why,
Hope,
Prayer.

Iraq

By Kayla Wood
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 7

In Iraq,
The country of fighting
Men and women,
Dying for our freedom
And the freedom of the Iraqis
Needlessly dying
While we sit at home
With nothing good to do
But complain that life is not good enough
While our troops fight for many lives
In Iraq
And we can’t seem to understand
What it is like to fight for our lives
We don’t know how much pain they go through
Fighting
In Iraq
A car comes,
And the phone rings
A mother screams and cries,
“Don’t let this happen to me”
While avery small child
Tries to understand
What her tears,
And her words are for,
A loved one dies
In Iraq

We complain because we had to do 20 push ups in gym
They have to keep fit to survive
We cry because our favorite tv show is canceled
They cry because they have to watch a friend die
And there is nothing they can do to help them
Our lives are different
They try to protect,
While we try to be happy
Iraq has brought nothing but pain in most lives
But the war is not to see who can kill who
It is to give the victims there freedom
And us our protection
Iraq may be a pain to us
But just try to imagine
What it is like
To live in a war stricken country
That is called
Iraq
With no help
And no freedom
Living under a wicked person
Who will kill if what he wants is not done
So what would you do
If you had to live
In the country called
Iraq

Thoughts About Iraq

By Emily Vasseur
Harwood Union Middle School, Grade 7

Iraq. A place of love, fortune and peace. Wait, no it's not; it’s the exact opposite. What do I think when I hear the word Iraq? Death and a lot of sadness.

When I hear the word Iraq, I think about war and innocent people dying. When I hear the word Iraq, I think about a war that needs to end. When I hear the word Iraq, I think of death and harmful weapons. All of these things are what I think about when I hear the word Iraq. The war in Iraq needs to end, because it is not getting us anywhere and it’s not helping stop anything.

Iraq

By Haley Rae Harder
Renaissance School, Grade 4

When I think of Iraq,
I think of my father overseas.
I think of Cacti, not trees.
I think of war and sadness,
I think of fight and madness.
I think of a dozen kinds of planes,
I think it is a pleasure when it rains.
I think of cracked, hot dry sand.
I think of everything deserting the land.
But most of all,
I think from Baghdad’s big domes,
of my father coming home.

I don’t think of the word Iraq very often, but when I do, nothing comes to mind at first, but I allow it to sit on my mind I begin to think of: a struggle of peoples who do not have the luxuries that we have today, and most of those people don’t even the bare necessities such as food, heat, and cloths to protect them.

I Don't Understand

By Kara Piergentili
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 7

Iraq.
War.
Pain.
Needless.
Peoples sons and daughters, even fathers and mothers, being sent out around the world not knowing if they are coming home.
Little boys and girls asking every night for their mommy or daddy.
What do you tell them?
When will it end?
How much longer does this have to go on for?

Drifting Off Into Iraq

By Branden Taylor
Mount St. Joseph Academy, Grade 9

Iraq.
War.
Pain.
Needless.
Peoples sons and daughters, even fathers and mothers being sent out around the world not knowing if they are coming home.
Praying and hoping that they will.
Little boys and girls asking every night for their mommy or daddy.
What do you tell them?
When will it end?
How much longer does this have to go on for?

Open Your Eyes

By Mayr Sniatkowski
Dover Elementary School, Grade 5

How I Feel About Iraq

Iraq-
The word that means
Ambushing
Killing
Shiites shooting at U.S.
Tanks
And terrorists and rebels are
Getting no thanks.
At least
I don’t have my family there.
Instead
Of a horrible war
The troops
Should care
For the poor
In Iraq.

In the Airport

By Jarett Legg
Ferrisburgh Central School, Grade 3

In the airport
My dad is
Coming back
From Iraq, while
He was in Iraq
A bomb exploded
In his face.
He couldn’t hear for
About 15 days
But then my
Dad came home
On the last
Day of the
3rd month
My heart was
Pumping really
Fast, my mom
Was thrilled to
See my dad, Oh
You should have
Seen my brother