"Not The Same"

Imagine every day is new, and you,
Grown men with guns walk amongst you.
And you with them same gun, all run.
Imagine the middle-wastern sun.

You don't want to be there, but you are.

There is much work to be done,
but not for you, no, you're not the one.
You can't handle this kind of work,
so you have to stay behind,
while the boys go get to have their fun,
We don't need you on this run.

But I, too, have the gun:
It's exactly the same as yours.

I am trained to fight the same as you,
I wear the flag on my right shoulder, too.
I signed the same conract, assumed the same risk,
but I am not the same, or so I'm told.

All I'll do is just hold my team back.

There's no room for me in this plan.
I am the same, but I am somehow 'less than'
I serve THIS FLAG, the same as yours, 
But I am not capable, or so I'm told.

I am not a Soldier, I am not a man.

I can't 'Be All That I Can Be'
If only they would just let me!
But for some Senator who DOES NOT KNOW ME
I'm only here because I have to be,

Because I signed a contract, the same as yours.

but we can't let you actually TRY.
That's not allowed.
I have to keep my voice down while I'm in,
because if my buddy's wife sees me, hears me,
she'll get upset with him
BECAUSE I'M THERE
But I don't want to be

And when I've been harmed, wronged...
"assaulted"
They want me to report it,
so they can sit back,
file paperwork,
then ignore it.
I am, afterall, the little whore.
They all are, like the ones before.

Couldn't wait to get those ACUs off, could you (SLUT)?

I should have seen it coming, see.
All those Soldiers, supposedly the same as me,
Well, they've been away from home a while, too.
So they think they deserve THEIR SHARE (of me)
So while they get to sate their appetites,
Not I, with my own needs.
I HAVE NO RIGHT.

But I AM NOT the ones before, I'm ME.
the few, the proud, 
the women in uniform, the same as me.
The "sluts" and "whores" who carry guns
But WE have to be pure as nuns!

While they joke about sodomizing us behind closed doors.
We carry our guns, serve the flag, but we're still whores?

But alas, and this is my fault, I'm not a man.
Therefore I can't POSSIBLY understand
The yellow ribbons and marching bands
are not for me, I didn't earn them the same way,
I should have played the game that 
I'm NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY

She talked, she told the truth,
the bitch has to pay

And believe you, me: I have
Plus tax.
And EXTRA shipping,

and EXTRA "handling"

I AM NOT the ones before,
Less-than, the fuck-up, the whore,
the "Double-standard" I DIDN'T FUCKING ASK FOR
I am the same as you


MY SILENCE ENDS