Christmas Day 2006

I'm opening up, sorry.

We found him in a ditch by the road

His body mutilated 

His ears cut off

His tongue ripped out 

His eyes gouged out 

Two 45 rounds through his head

I stared for a moment

then looked away

I was numb to it 

If 

I didn't look to long 

but I knew

The taste of violence in my throat

The weight and slime on my hands

When I picked him up 

like a sack of garbage

In the stench of the late morning heat

heavy like rancid sweets

cleansing me of humanity 

 making space for the horrific indifference 

that had become my life 

We threw him in the truck

We dropped him at the morgue 

In front of the mosque 

The old cleric smiled

but 

he hated us

We knew that

The next IED

The next mortar round 

The next sniper's bullet

Could be mine

Back home in a box

In my dress blues 

Amounting to nothing 

over a war for nothing 

But I survived

 I have to live with that 

Reviews

[Chaselyn]

I appreciate this insight and sort of a behind the scenes look.. If only certain closed minded people could see this. I also appreciate the numbness.. Reminds me of when I found my dog with her stomach torn open in my backyard and taking her to the vet.... The moment flies so deeply and quickly into your soul that you never feel it but it sits there, clawing... forever. Wanting to be heard..but it is tapped, the moment has passed...

[Lydia Shutter]

The brutality of war does not end when the soldiers come home. It is relived day after day and interrupts sleep every night. Why does the guy next to you live and you die? What does Madame Fate have in mind for you? These are the questions that plague the vet who comes home. The honesty of this one slaps the face of the reader. Intense! LydI**

[Tai Ryens]

You do a stellar job of putting the reader into the shoes of a man in the middle of war, plagued by the threat of death hanging over, threatening to fall down upon you. The paranoia is intense and, dare I say it, frightening even and the reality of the grief invoked by the horrors of war is made real by your words. Truly brave of you for opening up and expressing the tragedies of war; keep it up!

[Troy Henson]

Very Vivid Mark and hits you right between the eyes. As someone who has never experienced any of this nor new anyone that has endured this you bring all of this to life for me and I take my hat off to you friend.

Regards
Troy

[Rita L. Sev]

Mark, the truth of this is overwhelming. Reading your words help me to understand my father-in-law, a Korean War Vet who struggled with the world around him after he returned. Amazing work here.

[MAD ENGLISHMAN]

We who have never experienced the truth of war cannot fully understand how it will affect those who have.
You did what was asked of you, and that was honourable. Living with the memories will be the hard part. So long as you continue to fight for those who didn't make it back you will continue to honour them.
Your friend from across the pond.

[Vidya Bacchus]

This is so sad and horrifying the harsh realities of what you guys faced.Be strong baby you did survive and that's not a bad thing.