An Ode To My G.I.Joe

“Soldiers don’t dance” is what you said to me,

Every time I extended my hand for the offer to take the lead.

And despite your stern persists, I would have to disagree,

But maybe you are used to dancing with

The pounding of steel boots along the caked dirt,

 In unison and in march,

Setting the rhythm for all the follow

With the clank-clank of the dog-tag cymbals

And the bang-bang of the chorus of rifles,

The steady notes of the roaring tank motors,

All dancing in matching camouflage costumes,

All on beat and well-rehearsed,

And those on the ground missed a vital step,

And are now belching their last chords

While your screams accompany their verse.

And then the music fades into silence.

But I guess soldiers don’t dance.

 

When it is time for our routine,

We are out of sync,

And you pull me around the dance floor

And painfully step all over me,

I look like a clumsy child taking their first steps,

While trying to follow your changing tempo,

Switching between joyful strides,

Intimate swaying,

Spontaneous bursts of intensity and anger,

Without ever having a cue of these choreography changes.

But I guess that’s why you accepted her offer as your partner.

I watch as you two sway back and forth elegantly,

Never missing a step,

The way I never could.

I watch all this as the wallflower I am.

But I guess if I still extended my hand,

You would still say that “Soldiers don’t dance.”

I hope for your sake, she never loses her rhythm like I did. 

Reviews

[cycy]

crystal...honey...write a book and just mail it to me. I can see how all your stories could blend into the perfect anthology. Loved this one too, can't decide which is my favorite though. you really have a rare gift, great imagination and no doubt raw talent. xo

[Crystal Heart]

Thanks again cycy for enjoying and being a fan of my work. Maybe if I write enough to be a book, I'll see if I can publish it into a book, but I don't really know the process of doing that at all. I just write for fun and leisure. I wrote another military poem called "The Soldier", if you are interested in reading that as well. That one is my newest addition =D

[K.]

This is really great, I love it. First of all, I found this by searching the military and war genre because i love reading about all of this stuff, and I was not disappointed. Your descriptions are perfectly vivid and take me right to that spot. I don't know if I can relate to it more because I've had a similar experience, but I can place an entire setting to this. For me- it's a busy bar in my college town; I don't know what it is for you.

I love the onomatopoeia in that first paragraph/stanza. I love onomatopoeias in general but I especially loved this one, I'm not quite sure why haha. The descriptions in this piece are just amazing.

I'm not sure if you intended it like this but the vibe I got from that second part is that it wasn't just a dance anymore. The changing tempo of the dance steps turned into a quickly changing mood every day, from happiness to sadness, from being so close to so far, with those "spontaneous bursts of intensity and anger", as you put it. Veterans coming back from war zones often have an extremely hard time fitting back into the American society. Being in an area that is so structured and adrenaline-filled as a deployment is, to the freedoms and responsibilities of life back home, can be similar to a culture shock.

This was overall really fantastic (and that was really poor english, but hey, it's 1 am). I'm glad I came across this!

[Crystal Heart]

Aww thanks for your praise and for enjoying my poem... I really appreciate it! =D If you love military poems, I wrote another one called "The Soldier". Let me know if you like that one as well! =D

[K.]

I will definitely check that one out!