{"id":462,"date":"2014-09-04T17:59:48","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T17:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=462"},"modified":"2014-09-04T17:59:48","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T17:59:48","slug":"other-people-set-the-options-we-must-choose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/other-people-set-the-options-we-must-choose\/","title":{"rendered":"Other People Set the Options, We Must Choose"},"content":{"rendered":"

This poem was inspired by an interview with Colonel Colm Mangan of the Irish PDF, on his retirement. He told of working with the UN in Sarajevo and of a sniper shooting tow innocent people dead and him being unable to choose which one would live when challenged.<\/p>\n

Sniper:<\/strong>: \u201cThere are two people in the street below. I\u2019m going to shoot one dead. You get to choose which one lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colonel Colm Mangan<\/strong>: \u201cI cant make that choice\u201d<\/p>\n

Narration: both people are shot dead by the sniper<\/em><\/p>\n

Sniper:<\/strong> \u201cYou could have saved one of those people\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two people walking down a street
\nAs a colonel and a sniper meet
\nAnd look at the range beneath
\nThat the sniper can control<\/p>\n

\u201cDown there right now are people: two
\nWhich one lives is up to you\u201d
\nThe colonel did not know what to do
\nAs he looked into his soul.<\/p>\n

So the sniper the choice for him he made
\nWith gunfire, the street below he sprayed
\nTill both people dead on the street were splayed
\nAnd to the colonel he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe choice was yours, you failed to make
\nFor your own conscience sake
\nSo both lives I decided to take
\nBecause of you, both now are dead.<\/p>\n

Such things to do are neither right or nice
\nBut when we are made to make a choice
\nIf we don\u2019t, someone else pays the price
\nThat in life is a rule.<\/p>\n

Of making mistakes don\u2019t be afraid
\nThe worst choice is the one not made
\nAs each day, those deaths are played
\nIn the cornels mind, of those deaths, so cruel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This poem was inspired by an interview with Colonel Colm Mangan of the Irish PDF, on his retirement. He told of working with the UN in Sarajevo and of a sniper shooting tow innocent people dead and him being unable to choose which one would live when challenged. Sniper:: \u201cThere …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,453],"tags":[455,688,456,687,2361],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-war-poetry","category-yugoslav-wars","tag-bosnia","tag-bosnian-croat-federation","tag-republica-srpska","tag-sarajevo","tag-yugoslav-wars","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-7s","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2546,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/civilians-slain-an-empire-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":462,"position":0},"title":"Civilians Slain – An Empire Saved","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"10th February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The sight of the Dillon family emerging from their house waving a white flag in Moore Street being shot down by snipers \/ machine gunners of the British Army on the roof of the Rotunda is what convinced Pearse that it was time to surrender to prevent more civilian casualties.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "1916 Easter Rising"","block_context":{"text":"1916 Easter Rising","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/1916-easter-rising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"General James P Cullen speaking at Offaly Historical Society about the Easter 1916 Rebellion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/General-James-P-Cullen-speaking-at-Offaly-Historical-Society-about-the-Easter-1916-Rebellion.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/General-James-P-Cullen-speaking-at-Offaly-Historical-Society-about-the-Easter-1916-Rebellion.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/General-James-P-Cullen-speaking-at-Offaly-Historical-Society-about-the-Easter-1916-Rebellion.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/General-James-P-Cullen-speaking-at-Offaly-Historical-Society-about-the-Easter-1916-Rebellion.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":282,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/srebrenica\/","url_meta":{"origin":462,"position":1},"title":"Srebrenica","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"8th April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1rrCCKoktUE Rows and rows of headstones A sight we've seen before And beyond them the eye can see Rows and rows more... 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