Alive

A soldier's letter home

I sit to write my 

Love for you, and

The horrors of war

I would go

Crazy otherwise

It's going to be

Hard for me to 

Write this

I helped carry some of the

Wounded, and I 

Hope I

Never

Have to again

I lost a friend the other day

I was asked to Identify a 

Body

I didn't know

Who

It was

They told me his name

Rankin

NO!

It can't be!

I cried

It was the

First

Body

I had ever seen

That of my own dear

Friend

I'll never forget 

His face

The heavens cried for

Him

It began to rain and

Didn't stop

I desired greatly to

Throw down

Everything and

Sob

I'm hollow

I'm alright

I'm a shell

I'm alright

When I'm scared I

Rattle

I 

Am

All

Right

I've told you

About your

Son

Soon there will be 

Another 

To tell you

I was

Just

Alive

Author's Note

So, in this poem, I did not write a single line. Not one word was fabricated from my mind. All I have done is rearrange the words of letters sent home from Vietnam.
This was an assignment for my English class, and this has been one of my favorite assignments, not because it was fun, but because I got to know several amazing people through their words to their friends and families. I learned a lot from them, and I hope that my poem can give you a glimpse of a soldier's point of view.