you know those brave soldiers

those American heroes

the ones who fight to save you and me

the ones across the seas in the middle east

the ones who aim to please

the captains who train to fight the tyrannical rein 

the monster we have come to know as the enemy

the enemy that stabs the jugular vein that feeds freedom to our country’s brain

and slays puppies and takes old lady’s canes

and steps on rainbows and puts everything in chains

anything good is destroyed by this looming enemy,

so glooming, it lurks closer and closer to our liberties

threatening them, it lurks closer and closer to our liberties

but in the heat of the battle theres a bullet flying, flying, killing, bleeding, dying

and the enemy soldier stops and turns to his right

where his compatriot lays, a hole through his chest

and he cries out for the rest

of the days

that his comrade in arms will never see

and slowly

the enemy soldier, that lurks and kills and destroys,

takes off his helmet

and he is a man

not a ghoul or an alien 

or a demon of pain

he is a man

and he knows what he was told, to keep fighting out there in the cold

and to leave his partner, his fellow soldier, his friend

his friend that will never see his daughter again

his friend that he must leave in the dirty bloody ground and then

he sees

he sees 

this enemy soldier, who lurks and kills and destroys

he knows not anymore

why he is fighting this war

what this bloodshed is for

he sees now that he is not killing a monster

he is killing a man

that he is killing our men

our men who won’t ever see their daughters again

that we are all just men 

or women 

that we all have the same arms and toes and 

ears and a nose

and we all have a heart

yes, a heart

he knows now all you need is a heart, 

and he wonders why

he should try 

to kill

and pry these fathers 

from their families

from their daughters

why he needs to fight when we all have 

the one thing we need

the one thing that can lead 

this world to peace

that can destroy the creed

that lives off anger and greed

the one thing that can heed a better world

for tomorrow’s boys and tomorrows girls

so he drops his gun

and looks toward the sky and waits for the sun

because he sees now it will shine if we can all resign

our hatred and find a better way

a new way

this enemy soldier, who lurks and kills and destroys

knows now that we all have the means

for a new start

that we all have 

a heart