Killer on the road

What good and bad we do in a life. The scars will always stay with us.

Killer on the road


A Iraqi man sipping  his coffee.
He watches the military trucks drive by.

He look to the sky and murmur a pray.
I will miss you my wife, my children.
He caresses his chest. 
He feel the bomb wrapped tightly against his body.

His eyes are sad and he knows he has no choice.
They killed his brothers.
They came to his country and torn it down to rubble.

He believed in a eye for a eye. 
He will be in paradise soon.
Tears fall from his eyes as he think of his wife sleeping alone.

Soldier with M-16 loaded and ready.
He tells his buddy going to be a good night.
Going to kill a few of them damn  terrorist.


His buddy with a bible in his hand.
Pray to survive the night without firing his guns.
He whisper  I pray I make it through the night.
Please lord keep me safe and let me go home soon.


The city is quiet and the soldier are on alert.
The gunner pass the coffee to his friends.
Tells him my eyes are seeing ghosts again.

 
He watches the morning light began to appear.
He thinks of a mother and father waiting and hoping to see him.
He makes a mental note to call them tomorrow.


A middle age Iraqi man walked down the street in the early morning.
His hands are sweating.
He see two soldiers guarding a government building.

The gunner asks his buddy was the man a ghost in the distance?
He put the bible down and tells him he is real.

The soldier looked at his bible.
Points his weapon at the man.
He raise his hand to halt the Iraqi Man.

The Iraqi man screams out his daughter name and Allah.
Runs toward the soldier.

The soldier aim his M-16 and shoot three rounds into the man chest.

The Iraqi man falls dead.
The soldier goes to him.
Fall and ask god to forgive him.

He open up and see the bomb and photos.
It still don't bring comfort to the soldier.

The soldier sit on his cot.
He hold pictures of a man's wife  with two children.
He wonder why he has to kill this man?

He should of been home tossing a football with his brother or something. 

He cries for the Iraqi he killed.
Old Sargent said he was a hero.
Those terrorist are just killers on the road.
Waiting for us to end their misery.
He bring his bible to his heart and tries to sleep.

The gunner wake him up.
He tells him we are on again tonight.


He puts the bible on the table.
Dresses  into battle gear and walk out of his tent.
He leave the bible tonight on the table.

He had bad dreams.
He dreams he was the killer on the road.

He would do his duty and go home.
He don't talk of God or Jesus anymore.
He just wishes for the blood to leave his hands.

The gunner smile.
He yelled maybe we can kill a few tonight.
His buddy smile and stare at the road.

                      Coyote

                                 

Author's Note

War leave no winner. Vietnam and Korea left scar for a generation of young men and woman. These Wars of today will be the scars for the next 60 years or more.

Reviews

[Angel's Lady]

Your war stories are so poignant to me...my friend over there, I wonder, how many men has he killed? Will those scars affect him when he's home with his wife and kids? I know they will, but will he realize it, or pass on the violence to those he loves....Great write, my friend.

[Ladysue]

Wow, this was very sad and I agree no one really wins in war...very well done...

[Honeypot]

This really touched me. You're right war leaves us all losers. My dad was in Vietnam and I see people all the time that are still struggling with the aftermath of that war. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[J]

wow.its sad but good.People should just avoid wars.But I guess sometimes it cant be helped (sigh) Great Work

[The Tea Party Mouse.]

I agree in that I feel no soldier leaves war "unscathed". The emotional turmoil must be something terrible and this captures that feeling so well.

[Bud]

This has no measure of merit, for it is the pinnacle of writing. You have captured perfectly a sobering truth. And even with that, it is far worse in the real life experiences that occur daily for a soldier. You have brought another truth to the heart of the reader. War is not suppose to be what we use it for...
Thank you for bringing such an important message to the people. Superb! I can only give you a 100 but know it stands for infinity.

[Onatah]

I just wanted to add that this is excellent in the fact that it leads you to believe that it will be a poem that expresses the sudden death of unsuspecting soldiers, and the turn is that it is truly a story about the effects of the survivors and these "heroes" of war. I love the twist in this. Good job Coyote!

[deeps]

This is quite the sad write here. So very emotional. There is two sides though to every story. This is a well written, and so well expressed.

[alan khan]

i dont even know what to sya that i havented already. you've got something that, basically all writers lack in my opinion. experience. and it gives your already talented writing credibility, and make it authentic. great work as always. this one was one of my favorites.

[Onatah]

The devil has fooled us into seeing an image of honor in wars. There is no such title gained when you kill someones father, someones husband, someones children, someones brother, someones sister. Honor? No.

[Leaner Pastures]

By showing both sides, I think you shine a light on how we end up in conflicts, where two (or more) sets of people honestly and truly believe their actions are right and the actions of the other is wrong and in the end both sides are hurt and diminished.

We ask much of our soldiers and their families but are afraid to pay the bill when they return. The emotional trauma you highlight at the closing along with your authors note makes me think of all the Veterans who are on the streets and homeless today because we have been unable to address the mental health issues caused by their service to us and what they did in our name.