In surreal I appear—
facing front and center.
Staring at two weapons:
a heavy rocket launcher
and a slender sniper rifle.
They appear to me to be
suspended in mid-air.
My nervous comrade cowers
in the corner of the room—
head down and unmoving.
Another steps out into
the agitated tide,
and his head explodes.
One rushes from behind me
takes a weapon and screams
out into the night...

A door on either side,
one on left, one on right
with bullets flying by.
I can hear them wizzing,
I can see them spinning,
is the room rocking?
This is dis-orienting—
I grab a sniper rifle—
I've used them before—
but it's like I've forgotten
and this completely foreign.
I hear a voice from behind me,
"You've got point."
I turn about and faintly see
a grizzled face staring back.
"I've got you covered."

I don't move from my spot.
Fiddling with the weapon,
trying to gauge my range.
"Try learning how to aim!",
they yell as they rush out
toward some distant objective
I've yet to fully comprehend.
The nervous guy hasn't moved.
I walk around a headless body
toward the open starboard door.
Peeking slowly around the edge
I can see a fort with two towers.
The mission: capture the fort.
Another bullet wizzes quickly by.
I jump back in the door; snipers.
My guess is the right tower,
based on where I'm standing.

I can see the flecks of light
drifting from the right tower
where their snipers take aim;
bodies are dropping left and right.
I scan the beach for a clear path—
ah, that way looks alright.
I head for the barricade
halfway up the beachhead.
Running in a jagged line—
to avoid being hit by flak—
getting closer to cover...
But suddenly—I don't make it.
My best guess is that my head
just ejected from my shoulders.
Never saw the bullet coming.
Moments later I reappear—
safely in the amphibious lander.
This is completely Unreal.

We're not in Atari anymore, Toto.
But gee, aren't I having fun?

12/22/2001

Posted on 12/22/2001
Copyright © 2025 D. Xavier Bari