1. What are your feelings as you read the poem?
1.1. Unjustified
1.1.1. "War child! Victim of political pride" - I feel pity because the children are innocent, and should not suffer because of the war that was caused by the older generations. They cannot lead normal lives and have a happy childhood.
1.2. Sympathetic
1.2.1. 'And came upon a man. He was sleeping on the streets and homeless, He said, “I fought in Vietnam” ' - I feel pained after reading this because the man, who could be a soldier, since he fought in Vietnam, is homeless. He fought for his country, yet this is what he gets in return.
1.3. Perplexed
1.3.1. "We’ll shoot to kill, and kill your lover" - Why must war involve the innocent ones, since they are not involved in the conflict?
2. How does the poet create those feelings in you?
2.1. By writing about her first-hand experience
2.1.1. The poet wrote about his/her encounter with a homeless man in New York who 'fought in Vietnam'. This brings us to the fact that there are many people who are homeless because of the war. Even though the soldier helped his country to fight in the war, he did not receive any help from the government even after the war as countries involved in the conflict still had to pick themselves up and had to time to entertain soldier/civilians.
2.2. By repeating the word 'War Child'
3. Themes
3.1. Effects of War
3.1.1. There is the birth of war children, who are subjected to discrimination. Also, countries in the conflict suffer losses, and civilians as well as soldiers are affected physically and emotionally.
3.2. To uphold Peace or Defend one's country?
3.2.1. Being patriotic for your country is good, but attack others in order to benefit your own country is disastrous and could lead to many generations of unhappiness.
3.3. Benefits of War
4. Setings & Atmosphere
4.1. Depressed; Gloomy
4.1.1. The persona kept repeating "We’re all the losers now!", and losing is not a good feeling.
4.2. Aftermath of War
4.2.1. I say that this poem was written after the war, because it was written that "We’re all the losers now!". Also, the poet mentioned a homeless he/she met in New York who 'fought in Vietnam'. He could not have possibly flew to New York while the war was going on in Vietnam, so it could only be that he flew to New York after the war ended.