[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 160 (Thursday, November 6, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE WORDS OF DANIEL COLVIN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TIM RYAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 6, 2003

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pride to honor the 
words of Daniel Colvin, a gifted poet from Youngstown, Ohio whom I am 
proud to claim as my constituent. Daniel is doing his part, by means of 
meter and rhyme, to advance the noblest goal for which we all strive--
peace in our time.
  Daniel is a freshman at Kent State University, majoring in 
architecture and plans to incorporate writing into his future--a future 
which is no doubt bright. His poem, Armed with a Conscience, was 
inspired by the attack on September 11, and the subsequent War on 
Terrorism. Mr. Colvin has expressed hope that his poem ``will strike 
the consciences of all of mankind and help lead us to a world of 
peace.''
  I am pleased and proud to share with my colleagues and the Nation, 
Armed With a Conscience, by Daniel Colvin:

     I wake up in a pool of cold sweat
     My heart drumming in my throat
     My eyes were wide from the fear of a threat
     Such fear that I cannot emote.

     The dream that I had was unbearably sad
     It hurts to even think about it
     A nightmare so real, you could never have had
     Well, you could have; but I doubt it.

     I was in the army being all I could be
     Being trained by the best in the field
     They had taught me all that a soldier should be
     How to kill without being killed.

     I, the quick learner that I had always been
     Had gone through the training with ease
     I had always fit in with the strongest of men
     But found nothing in common with these.

     Some of them crazy, and some without care
     Some who had dreamed to be soldiers
     Some loyal to their country, and some of them scared
     Some just had chips on their shoulders.

     I was the strong silent type, I guess
     I had always been social before
     But trust me, you'll laugh and talk a lot less
     When you're 18 and drafted to war.

     I had been taught not to murder a soul
     But in war, what else could I do?
     I remembered how world peace had been my goal
     But in battle, I would have to fight too.

     So across the cold, muddy battlefield I crawled
     Armed with my rifle in hand
     I saw hatred and death and I was appalled
     All this over money or land.

     Dead bodies and body parts scattered on the ground
     My gun still fully loaded
     Explosions and shouting consumed sight and sound
     Everything near me exploded.

     I got up and ran to hide in the brush
     But a foreign soldier was there
     He had been hiding and trying to hush
     So I caught him a bit unaware.

     Still he had time to cock up his gun
     I would have killed him, but couldn't
     I had time to take off and run
     I would have ran, but I wouldn't.

     Instead, we stood aiming at each others' hearts
     To me, it was nothing but nonsense
     Staring in his eyes, I could tell he had smarts
     But he also had a conscience.

     In that moment, I knew that he was like me
     He did not truly want to kill
     Even the way he squeezed his gun tightly
     Said that he was there against his own will.

     So what do you do on the battle field
     When you cross a man like yourself?
     You don't want to kill, but you cannot yield
     Nor ask anybody for help.

     Shaking like crazy, we both started to sweat
     My heart dropped; his skipped beats
     Staring and letting our eyes make the threat
     When inside we were fearing defeat.

     I wanted to end the suspense and forget it
     I started to pull the trigger
     Then my conscience said, ``You're gonna regret it
     Your purpose in life is much bigger.''

     I let go of my gun, but before it fell
     I felt lead pierce through my chest
     The other man's conscience hadn't worked so well
     So he did what he thought was best.

     I fell backward all the way to the ground
     Smacking the back of my head
     My fellow soldier came and shot the man down
     And the last thing I saw was him dead.

     So that's why I woke up in such a fright
     Fearing the thought of war
     I was thinking of the man in my dream last night
     And grew sadder than ever before.

     The sad part is not the fact that he shot me
     That's not it, it really isn't
     But since his conscience didn't teach him what mine taught me
     I woke up and he didn't.




                          ____________________