Imbed

We were all dead in the end-

Bodies shipped back to the states,

or left discarded in roadside wrecks.

Bobby tweeted about mortar fire,

uploaded pictures of burning skies.

I remember his hand on my back

 

on a subway platform before turning back

to walk up the stairs, pausing towards the end

before being lost in the night sky.

Kim was teetering, her usual drunken state

I tried to grab her when the marines yelled “Fire”

The bullet found her first. I was a wreck,

 

trying to piece her back together, wrecking

my clothes with blood and hair, crying back

to the soldiers for help. The horizon was all fire.

We had to leave her body there in the end,

lying on the sand in her broken state,

eyes staring lifeless towards the sky.

 

The sun broke through clouded sky

I remember saying “my body is a wreck”,

wanting to leave this state

of disrepair. I picked up my camera and went back

but couldn’t find her body in the end,

just walked back to camp muttering “fire”.

 

Fahim told us a story around the fire

about a sandstorm that hid the sky,

filming from his car till it ended.

Two months later he’s filming wreckage.

On the footage I can see him turn his back

to help Mike, a journalist from the states.

 

A man comes from a building, wild state,

they look up too late and there’s just fire.

He’s gone when I turn off the tape. Back

home Mike is buried under overcast sky.

The whole nation is a wreck.

Fahim isn’t mentioned in any reports. It ends

 

with me in a bad state, the sky

is raining fire and I am wrecked.

You can see me turn back as the footage ends.

Reviews

[Lily Mae]

I can only know these things through people like you and the experience of your life through your words.. It all amazed me but when you referenced ..the touch of his hand on your back...that sinks in deep with the reader by bringing in such a strong visual.. Thank you for sharing..xo

[char]

The job of a war photographer. I love this one. The way the second to last stanza read into the last was strange, though.

[Kyle Kammerer]

Thanks for reading all of my work (Thats on here), I really appreciate it! This was one of the most challenging poems to write due to the nature of the sestina. I can see that it would be awkward going into the last stanza. I attribute it to the need to adhere to the form, forcing me to end the last line of the 6th stanza with "end". A daunting form to work with but probably one of the most rewarding.

Thanks again!

[char]

You're welcome! :)