Bradley Manning

When Bradley moved back from western Wales 
His Okie accent still wouldn’t fail 
Sleeping in his pickup [bad word]  his Soul wouldn’t calm 
He wrote to his mother, “I’m nobody now, Mom”

It’s hard to imaging why bullies dig 
But Bradley understood it came with the gig 
He wanted an education with all his will 
So he walked in and signed up to get that GI bill

“I want…”

Today, those who got up in Bradley’s face 
Wish to remain anonymous, in their disgrace 
They [bad word] around he wet himself scared 
Even if that’s [bad word]  I don’t really care

“Recycled” from Iraq and stationed at Fort [bad word] 
His boyfriend introduced him to Triskelion 
He met the hacktivists at MIT 
“Randomly hung out with some pikans”; “At last, people like me”

“I want…”

Deployed to Base Hammer, near Iran 
Built from freight containers and sheer boredom 
The bullies on the base went in for the kill 
They said, “We have a saying here: [bad word] rolls downhill”

On leave in Boston, but his boyfriend had flown 
Bradley wrote him on Facebook: “I have no real home” 
And before the Builds launch party, he went on to vent: 
“Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment”

“I want…”

While passwords are written on sticky notes 
And stuck to laptop screens, Bradley explodes 
Found in a storeroom stabbing a chair 
Bradley carved, “I want…” with a passion that’s all-too rare

Now he’s due to be court-martialed this December 
To prove bullying is better than a wild temper 
Now, when we say “I want”, we invoke his chair 
Bradley, know you have friends, though you’re locked in there

“I want…”