Militia

I remember the first time I heard the word militia. I was seven or eight, and I thought it was an ice cream dessert. The actual meaning was much more exciting to my young mind. The thought of being in an violent, underground uprising was an idea me and my friends explored playing in the woods, but i didn’t have a word for it. I’m still intrigued by the word, it seems deceitful to me. It sounds smooth and childish, and the definition is anything but. It’s like the idea of a revolutionary army needed a word, and it chose militia because it would seem inconspicuous.

Mitchell Vandiver
Oklahoma City, OK