Shrouded Rage

Many military medical providers suffer PTSD

Ever willing to forfeit their lives,

So that others may survive.

A soldier’s freedom never comes first,

This sacrifice not coerced.

A gift we trust responsibly used,

Not for granted or abused.

Respecting that each life has some worth,

And in a storm given berth.

 

Heroes they supportively call us,

Our duty we perform thus.

Mostly with honor some with disdain,

All of us still felt some pain.

Wounds of the flesh and ills of the soul,

Death of friends taking a toll.

Destruction and violence every day,

Peaceful life is far, far away.

 

These nightmares refuse to get out of my head;

Suffer the anguish along with the dread,

Haunting me in and out of my bed.

 

Not any one thing happened to me,

Just the hell I had to see.

Soldiers, civilians, and children hurt,

Some left dying in the dirt.

Blown apart, bleeding, barely breathing,

My heart ever more seething.

I held my breath inside for so long,

Watching this whole world go wrong.

 

When over there, I longed to be home,

Fearing not any syndrome.

But when I returned to my homeland,

I wanted back in the sand.

The bombs and mortars became the norm,

I found it hard to conform.

People comment that war has changed me,

 The deepest wounds they can’t see.

 

These nightmares refuse to get out of my head;

Suffer the anguish along with the dread,

Haunting me in and out of my bed.

Author's Note

This may need a bit of polish.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

May be a bit, but it's impressive, still. A heck of a lot of work went into it, obviously. Great rhythm and rhyme, but most of all is the gripping message. In my opinion, war is the ultimate statement of mankind's failure.

[DL Shackleford]

Thank you, I am welcome to any suggests to make it better