war

A soldier survives a war to live another war. A dark piece on his thoughts.

         image courtesy: inspire.creativefan.com/the-smoke-by-lucas-zoltowski

the table, jarred on weak legs, 
scratched off, of mischief and reminiscence
laid still, clueless
as the smoke gorged into the dead air


the music still played,
sore notes, 
memories gushing in
smiling faintly, he lighted
another cigerrate, and waited


his trembling lips, long sealed
of discipline and disgust,
of loyalty and loathe,
dried and cracked, 
looked for the last kiss


education was decieving,
survival, an instinct,
victories, heaped like the butts
all but triumph.
The screams, the curses,
medals of his bravery


Still proud to be a soldier,
not a human anymore
Lighted another smoke,
sweat drenched on the forehead,
he thought,
of war, war within him


Its such a strange fact that people look for peace through wars. I wonder if a soldier can ever forget the lives he took, survived.
aJ

Author's Note

My first post here. If you like my writing, you can check my blog http://you-me-and-serendipity.blogspot.com
Hope to hear from you :)

Reviews

[bob, small b. aka invs]

tough subject. i've always been a pacifist, partly because i believe being a soldier means giving up part of your humanity for a greater good. enemies are dehumanized so that it makes them easier to kill. your own decision making is taken out of your hands and put into the hands of your superiors. i'm not saying whether this is intrinsically good or bad. it's simply necessary in order to make war and i wanted no part of it. i have many friends who felt differently and some of them didn't fare too well. i think war is generally taken much too lightly. to those who think it's the right thing to do, i do respect their decision and commitment. i only hope that they have a good support system in place for when they come home.
your poem was thought provoking and well done.