Choose - Live or Die

10 minutes to midnight,
what will happen when the clock strikes twelve,
will Saddam’s maniacal Cinderella tale come to an end,
on the screen I just saw,
the B – 52’s getting ready,
on the runway,
fueled,
Is it time to go?
8 minutes to midnight,
is it time for blanket bombing to begin?
7 minutes to midnight,
at least in Baghdad;
the coalition of the willing,
about to drop bombs,
defense contractors pockets filling,
6 minutes now,
what are we to think?
5 minutes,
I’d really like a drink,
My mind wandering,
I’d really like to know,
Are the B – 52’s just for show,
Ask the Vietnamese,
They’ll tell us true,
4 minutes now,
oil fires in Basra await,
3 minutes,
surrender or fight,
2 minutes,
expedition in Iraq two hours ago,
12 hours early,
1 minute:
Choose –
Live or die?

SDM

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Context: Written the night the US invaded Iraq