I wonder if those who lay the mines down

Stay put and wait for victims to approach,

Or, with a surreptitious grin, retreat.

As for the victims, no imagining

The horror of their plight will bring them back.

The miner and mined have done their duty.

In moral terms, they seem so far apart:

One bad, one innocent. But consider.

They are both under orders not to think:

Playthings, creations of puppet masters.

Their actions, predetermined, are foretold.

Bad is not evil, innocence not good.

In war, who notices? All play a role;

Each slouching around, hoping it will end.