The Veteran

An excerpt from a longer poem. If you found anything good or bad about it I'd appreciate your criticism.

She stayed with him, and from his side

She dredged from out his blackened mind

The bones of those who lost their lives

In crimson mists of war

The contour of a sunny face

That glowed behind a lit cigar

His heart had never left his home

His dog, his friends, his native land

His girlfriend and her waiting hand

His life spilled out on desert sand...

A midnight raid through dirty rooms

Stretching shadows cast by flashlights

Turns of corner made so quickly

Startled face and lunging arms

A crack, a stumble then a fall

A boy sinks down against the wall

His teenage eyes so full of terror

As he vainly tries to crawl

What lies or sorrow brought him here

To die with weapons in his hands?

A boy pretending as a man

With so few summers, so few lovers

Used by those he called his brothers

Clarity from his confusion

Brought by holy prophecy