Our Time is Now
by: Jillian Elizabeth Burgin,
Albuquerque, New Mexico

The gravestones stood like silent warriors against the hill� tired and old guardians of the night. Reflecting moonlight and shadows, veiled amongst the trees
as the wind whispered of times that had passed�

I am dead and no one now lives who remembers me, my life. No one cares that I have gone or that I was ever even here on this earth. After all, what have I left behind?

I fought and died in the war� I believed it was the noble and honorable thing to do for my country.

I was wrong.

I was killed, after killing and wounding several others. I bled and died before my time.

Before I had lived, before I saw another sunrise in my twenty-third year.

Before I said goodbye to those I loved and cherished. Now, they too, have all passed from the earth.

It could have been different but my time has gone�

I should have stayed alive to enjoy life, to spend more time with my family, to be there for them when they needed me. I should have stayed alive to raise children and teach them love and peace and true meaning in life. Instead I have passed away into a tragic meaningless memory from which there can be no return and I took many other lives with me.

I should have put the gun down and walked away a true hero.

Now children run over my grave�they don't even remember the war I fought in. I hope they are smarter than me, and the others like me. I hope they grow up in peace. I hope they can love each other. I hope they can restore the planet. I hope they can have a better future. They are the future�

The long night passes in the cemetery�
darkness and shadow are replaced
by the dawn of a new sunrise.
Life begins another day.



The choice of positive transformation
on planet earth is ours.
Our time is now.