I declare myself a deserter

I want no army in my house,
I want no army in my back yard,
not on my block
or in my streets
I want no army in my homeland.

I declare myself a deserter,
a conscientious objector,
an enemy of death
from armed conflict,
an enemy of the institution
of trained death,
of flying bullets,
of organized violence.

I declare myself a traitor
to the laws of bombs and grenades,
to the order of tanks and machine guns
to life on the trigger,
to shadows and fear,
to firing first, justifying later.

I declare myself a fugitive
from those who are brainwashed,
from youths who are constrained,
from peace with nameless corpses,
from weapons over hunger,
from this bloodthirsty country.

I declare myself a deserter
I declare myself human,
a lover of life,
a fighter for unsoiled words,
for forthright truth,
for genuine justice,
I declare myself a deserter,
I declare myself human,

I want my home filled with friends,
flowers in my garden,
I want trees on my block,
children in the streets,
I want no army,
no bloodshed
in my homeland.