Clone Trooper Daniel
I heard a story once
Of a boy who went into the den of a monster
Because his king told him to.
It was dark when he went in, and he had only the light he carried with him.
I wonder about that boy.
Was he a frightened shiny?
Who had only seen a simulation life and found reality
Far greater and more terrifying
Than anything he could have prepared for?
Was he a veteran,
Battle-tested and hardened by every fight,
Armored top to toe and determined and ready?
Did he decide to fight the beast?
Did he expect to die?
I think about that boy
In a cave
With nothing but his flickering light and his fear and his bravery
And wonder if he was anything like me
If he had brothers beside him
To fight with
To fight for
And if they too were sent into the dens of monsters.
Did they look the monsters in the face?
Did they band together and fight?
Did they flee?
Did they die?
I never learned the end of the story.
The boy had just discovered the beast he would face
When the sirens called us to battle,
And the story lost its teller before he could finish the telling.
Now the boy lingers in my mind,
Facing an unfathomable enemy
With no escape.
A dead man walking,
Just like me.
