In sixty-six, that war was raging,
But school kept it from me engaging.
Yet once I quit that stage, I knew—
The draft would come to get me too.

 

I wouldn't kill at their commands,
Or harm those souls in foreign lands.
I would talk and with them share.
For both my life and theirs I care.

 

I live by truth, not someone’s plan,
No borrowed role, no forced demand.
I care for self, I walk my way—
That’s how I live from day to day.

 

To Canada? I can’t return.
A holy claim? I can’t affirm.
Pretending gay? It might not work.
My big toe off? I’d go beserk.

 

I weighed each path, both risk and cost—
The chance to live, and not get lost.
Marine Reserves, a bit unique—
I’ll go that way, with tongue in cheek. 

 

Six months I played along with them,
Yet out-of-step with their anthem.
No lives were lost from my gun spray—
A weekend warrior, that’s my play.

 

I live by truth, not someone’s plan,
No borrowed role, no forced demand.
I care for self, I walk my way—
That’s how I live from day to day.

 

That choice became a double gift,
For my career was then adrift.
A path that only God could see
Led me to a programmer be!

 

The crowd may shout, the pressure bend,
But I won't follow just to blend.
Call me selfish, if you must—
Yes I am, in that I trust.

 

I live by truth, not someone’s plan,
No borrowed role, no forced demand.
I care for self, I walk my way—
That’s how I live from day to day.