The Survival Switch | Teen Ink

The Survival Switch

April 18, 2014
By BrandonB BRONZE, Glendale, Arizona
BrandonB BRONZE, Glendale, Arizona
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
&ldquo;History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, &#039;What is history, but a fable agreed upon?&rdquo; <br /> ― Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code


If blood is shed under order and call
Is the blood on the killer's hands after all?

A second's notice: a trigger, a twitch
Another man falls to death's lulling wish.

A government, a nation, a flag
A cause or an excuse?

So many people, imposed in their suits
Toss lives back and forth for a point oh so moot.

The question, my friends, the perennial coup,
Is when do you stop, and when do you shoot?

So many downgrade those people who know.
But if it was kill or be killed, would another side show?

It's a human trait- so few- scarcely known:
The survival switch can be flicked or be thrown.

It's built deep inside, and never thrown out,
It'll change who you are, there's no need to doubt.

A second's notice: the trigger, the twitch.
Another man falls to the bloody, long list.

The survival switch can be flicked or be thrown,
Fear is the culprit, it's for what we are known.


The author's comments:
I wrote this poem after reading a nonfiction account of Black Hawk Down. Enjoy.

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