Just men

First job in country of Kuwait in 1992. Move the dead frozen bodies from Death Valley.

Just men                   

 
(I got to Iraq. My first task was to move the frozen dead bodied of Iraqi  soldiers
 killed at Death valley.)


Listless and cold.
We moved the frozen dead bodies.

 
Men who were slaughtered by planes at Death Valley.
Air Force sent  them to their god and paradise.

 
Four soldiers doing what we are told.
Working in silence.


My mind opt. out of thinking of the bodies as men.

 
No-one tried to claim the bodies.
We were told to move the frozen bodies to a larger storage container.
Then it would wait for somewhere to be ship.


 
Four men discussed the task after.
Joe told me he wanted to pray for them.
He asked me.  "Does anyone care about these men?


 
I told him "somewhere there is a mother and
family who is heartbroken and sad.
They don't know if these men are alive or dead."


"Guns and bombs don't give a s**t who they kill."


 
Joe forced us to pray.
He asked God to help these poor men on their journey.
He prayed they can go home and find peace.


 We sat in silence.

 
Funny part after we pray for the frozen bodies.
We looked at the containers with different respect and eyes.

 
We went back to moving the dead.
We put them down with ease and kindness now.


                                   Coyote
                                   January 2009
 

                                                                                                               

Author's Note

A old story. In War faces of men become the same. We must remember the Soldiers are fathers, sons and mothers, daughters.

Reviews

[A]

Wars are the most fatal disease humanity ever faced, I could never understand how cruel and heartless people, or careless enough to cause or start a war specially the war of Iraq what was the point?! There were no nuclear weapons and Iraqi soldiers weren't attacking USA...How many people have died from both the army and the people, peace is missing from this world;hopefully not forever, great work, thank you for sharing

[Norma M Sutton]

Nicely said Coyote. Dad was the one that retrieved the bodies of the pilots and gunners that didn't make the landing on the aircraft carriers. He didn't say much about it, just enough that we knew how terrible it was for him. It is hard to remain human and think about the dead as human if that makes sense. Much easier to try and forget that what you are moving was.

[Revolutionary]

sad Imagery it is th same today as it was then.I wis we could forget what never should have happened

[John Jackson (El Juero)]

I loved that the act of prayer made you and your comrades a conduit of the goodness and kindness of Creator. A poignant, wonderful read.

[My Fair Lady]

I thought this was truly beautiful. As a civilian woman, it is rare to hear personal stories of war, usually the disheartening.. unhuman newsworthy notes that are tainted with calloused and cold voices merely reporting an event and not personalizing or even humanizing the mortality loss. This is a wonderful reminder that those that protect and serve are not machines, or lifeless .. but rather someone's somebody.. a soulful human doing the work. Wow.

[Arabdha]

the waste of human life caused by war is truly pathetic..your poem makes me sad..

[MuSe Ampoule]

Deep. I like the change in mindset in this. Showing the struggle of a man trying to deal in a situation where he must face mortality. Attempting to disconnect the task from the act that caused the situation. But once forced to confront it with prayer and they understanding that with this duty they are helping these men get laid to rest. "We put them down with ease and kindness now."

[DamienHino]

"My mind opt. out of thinking of the bodies as men." disconnect trying to refrain from getting emotional and numb yourself to the devastation.
"Guns and bombs don't give a s**t who they kill." this line is very true...only a soldier would know that like you...thanks for your service. I really mean it.

[Maria F. Rojas]

wow, really sad and pain to see how they go at the end of their lives. I have so much respect for them to do for the best for our country.

love your writing! keep up!

[Serend1p1ty]

A touching write.
All too often, we care only for the statistics, never for the story.
Media can only be blamed partly for society's lack of emotion. We also have a blame to carry. We forget too easily about the emotions & the individual.
It takes a person shock encounter to remind us why death is such a bad thing & never just a statistic.
A thoughtful write, it reminded me of something I tend to forget.

Yours truly,
cloud6

[ransom]

i am noticing the recurrence of the number Four in your poetry. Might I ask if this is an intentional usage or do you feel that it just comes spontaneously from a deeper layer of your consciousness?

I have been writing quite a bit about the philosophy and psychology behind numbers lately and i love the way you express the way numbers, themselves,...somewhat like symbols...are as equally important as the words a poet uses to string his or her more conscious thoughts together in self-expression.

You know, the whole conversation about numbers reminds me, once again, of Black Elk. Especially his conversations and correspondence with Carl Jung. The relationship between these two giants of psychological understanding has long fascinated me, as they come from such different cultures and life experiences.

And the connection between them speaks to the truth expressed in your own thoughts and words about the Oneness of humanity, I think.

I can't tell you enough how thrilled I am to have made this connection with you!