Reflected in their eyes

I’m not a hunter, but I think sometimes 

Of the soldiers in the trenches 

In the two World Wars and elsewhere, 

Who are taught, “Don’t shoot 

Til you see the whites of their eyes.” 

It’s so much easier to be cruel 

To those whom we don’t know or understand, 

But so much harder — for most of us, at least — 

When we see ourselves 

 Reflected in their eyes.