Battle rages all around me.
I can hardly stand to hear their screams.
The screams of the dying.
I can only watch as my comrades,
No, as my friends, fall to enemy fire.
Anger surges through me.
But still, I am mortified beyond moving.
Children go running down the street in terror.
I want to call out, scream, anything…
A mortar comes down from no where,
The children are gone, only a crater is left.
Friendly forces sweep through,
They hold their ground for a while.
But soon they are pushed back again.
A sniper from two blocks down fires,
Too late, he missed.
Enemy tanks zero in on the building.
Another life lost.
I thank god they haven’t found me.
I don’t want to fight the pointless war.
Sirens go off, mission accomplished.
The schoolhouse has been destroyed.
I wonder if it was being used as a HQ,
Or if intelligence made a mistake.
The enemy surges forward,
Our troops, stand, then scatter.
Blood everywhere,
Corpses litter the ground.
The enemy commander leads another charge,
Too late, one of our men got him.
Someone is coming from behind,
I whip around and fire...
Then watch as a friend falls.
Oh no. Did I…? I did…
He lies there in a pool his own blood.
I watch his body twitch, then stop.
The explosions come nearer,
Gunfire echoes come even closer.
But I don’t care if I die now.
I just sit down with his head in my lap,
And cry…

12/11/2001

Posted on 12/11/2001
Copyright © 2024 Dana E Brossard