The Silent Sniper

bored

A Sniper crawls along a forest floor
A match grade barrel to do his chore
Blending with the woodland scene
He leaves no trace of where he's been

A single task occupies his mind
To the outside world he is blind
One single task, one single goal
Only his mission occupies his soul

He moves into the open grass
The enemy patrol makes a searching pass
although they look, they cannot see
the man moving out from a distant tree

One hour, two, three then four
He only moves a few feet more
Zero hour is getting near
He knows his target will soon appear

A single man he has been sent to kill
and on his hands this man's blood will spill
The moment is now, the target's in sight
Taking up the first pressure the shot feels right

One ounce more in the trigger sear
The bullet races away like a high speed spear
It races through the air with a thunderous crack
There's a fountain of blood as it exits the man's back

The silence is deafening theres not a single sound
as the shooter removes the case of the single
spent round
His task now done he fades back into the wood
His only trace is a body where a man once stood.

Author's Note

Please review

Reviews

[Frank F. Atanacio]

A very well written piece, in other words a very top league poem

i loved the discription, i almost felt like i was there. awesome.

[John P. Eiler]

I can really feel the experience of a sniper in these several words! I love the description and emotion too. It brings me into the scene!

[The Warrior Poet]

I wonder how many people reading this understand the "First pressure"; I am all too familiar with the distance between exhale and squeeze, trigger slack and break, and recoil.

The pressure in his fingertip builds,
as the crosshairs dance gently on the kill.
respiratory pause, lungs burning, needing a breath,
waiting for the shoulder kick, signifying death...

Please disregard - I'm just following along - the memories are so vivid. I was never a sniper but I was airborne infantry and all-too-familiar with the marksmanship. Soldiers in my battalion were required to score expert on the qualification range.

[nothing]

This was great. :-) You did a great job. I loved this one like no other. :-) Keep it up, dear.

Sarah.

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

excellent description of predator on stalk~ well drawn scenery~