Anti-War Spoken Word/Poetry Winning Entry

We are proud to announce the winner of the $500 1st Prize: Aneka Hewitt of the High School for Global Citizenship at Prospect Heights Brooklyn. The overwhelming %age of entries submitted were from high school students all over the United States. Please read her entry.
In Peace, Jim Murphy
Veterans For Peace NY

In the Eyes

Aneka Hewitt

High School For Global Citizenhip - Prospect Hts., Brooklyn

In the eyes of a different nation
In the eyes of a different color
In the eyes of another man, woman, or child,
There holds a deep sorrow of the sights they’ve seen
So numb, they are oblivious to the numbness.
They become lost.
The pain takes away the hope.
Like a light fixed on a portrait
That slowly eats away at its color

The memories never stop.
They seem to be in their dreams
And even as they blink,
The illusions chase their courage

The things they’ve done
The lies they’ve told
The lives they’ve taken,

The only movement is into a shell
The epitome of madness
What they’ve left behind
They can no longer find
What is left if the darkness
Perfect conditions to manifest fears

The brother that went in with them,
But failed to come back
The worthlessness of the cause,
The pain they’ve dealt,
The questions yet to be answered

The Eyes of… them,
They envy.
Who play men like pawns and knights
Protect thy King!
Or thy Kings falsity, more like.
It is all that matters.

The never-ending mental and physical battle
Who are you to take a life that does not belong to you?
Are you a thief? A Beggar? A Fool?
You’ve been lured into a ditch
Much too deep to climb

Right in front of their eyes, you are.
Yet you are invisible.
They cannot see.