Ahmed by Aaron Hughes

The children lining the roads of Iraq begging for food fill me with guilt, cynicism and anger.

Yet Ahmed who has been raped by this war, raped of his youth, raped of his body, raped of his sight, raped of his home, raped of his freedom, has no cynicism in his thoughts .

He grabs my hand and yells,"Run, Run please? Please run."

He is a nine-year-old boy who wants to stomp his feet and twist to pop music.

He is a nine-year-old boy that teaches himself to play piano.

He is a nine-year-old boy that is a bird that knows no barbed wire.

He is a nine-year-old boy who is my guardian angel constantly reminding me that life is for love and trust, not cynicism and anger.

Ahmed Jahar Shareef is my friend.



Aaron Hughes served in Kuwait and Iraq. The first piece ("A Bird Knows No Barbed Wire") was written in Baghdad in 2004. The second piece ("Ahmed") was written in New York in2006. He joined IVAW in 2006.