Hell In a Foxhole

war is hell

The silence, the stillness chills to the bone

Shadows, long as fingers reach

Virgin warriors upon an edge

Lie here in a foxhole deep 

And fear hiding all around us and beneath

Where is the enemy?

Loud whispers from our conscience ping out

Lips to our fingers, keeps nervous heads prevailing

And quells the eagerness of anyone's peering about

I am but a we English lad

But, this night a man I'm sure to become

I and my buddies also, someday will be called brave

But, now to death we will not succumb

Yet, all we can do is access the situation inches from the dark

Keep our minds and lives from growing all too short

Then, echoes…echoes from the black break the silence of the still

A loud shot! Reports….

The one…

Then two! And another boom!

A hail of missiles to hear 

And simultaneous clicks of our twenty some guns

Dirt spraying from every direction, which way do I shoot?

What I do not have…is…

Time! Time to think

I throw up my machine gun, blindly

Squeezing the trigger, RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

In a frenzy, RAT-A-TAT-TAT… spitting instinctively

Adrenaline rushing, surging!

Beads of sweat free fall to roll

Fingers tighten, muscles tauten

Madness besieging to depths of my soul

Then my redden swollen ears take heed

From behind comes most frantic a blood deafening scream

Victory, exhilaration and some hope 

That all of my enemies may have been relieved!

But no, it’s Johnny who’s been hit! 

And red rivers flow as his crimson streams

I’m sobbing; I’m cradling him and shouting “Johnny, you cannot die!”

Then I whisper, “Johnny please, please come back to life” 

Then I’m aware of the return of stillness once more 

And a piece of paper like a white flag waving in mid-air

A letter with two bullet holes falls silently

Floats to our foxhole floor

Where my tears magnify each handwritten word

Penned for sure from Johnny’s new bride 

And reading them were stabs from the unseen enemy’s knife

“Johnny you’re the greatest. I’m proud to call myself your wife. Please, be safe and return home alive”

Reviews

[Pushkar Prabhat]

Sad.......
but very beautiful!!
Amazing description!
indeed, WAR IS HELL!!!

amazing poem!!
i loved it!!
:)

[Michael G. Smith]

Thanks. Kudos to our brave service men and women.

[Pushkar Prabhat]

indeed! you are welcome.............!!!! :) :)

[Mikayla_Stagg]

Creepy and beautiful......

[Michael G. Smith]

You are a woman of so few words, lol.

[Beccy]

So difficult to unravel the complexities that lead to war. It defies logic and is mankind's true Achilles heel.

Then again, awful and wasteful as it is, you must question whether the world could survive without. Sadly, it seems, there will always be a fool with his finger on the trigger to guard against.

Beccy

[Michael G. Smith]

Without war or opposition in all things we couldn't truly understand the goodness, peace or happiness to its fullest. Thanks.

[Baby Ricochet]

The tensest moment in a fire fight is often just before it happens because you know it's about to happen. That's when "Holy f**k we could all die today" runs through your head. As soon as the first tracer rounds start coming at you there's too much going on to think about it, you just react. When guys on the line shot blind (as in your machine gun line) someone usually smacked the back of their Kevlar (helmet) and screamed "AIM YOU DIPSHIT!!" or something to that effect. Firing blind is frowned upon in the marine corps. There's a lot of different reactions to buddies getting hit. Typically you dragged them out of the line of fire, checked their wounds and called for the doc. If the doc was busy and the wounds were life threatening you applied a pressure bandage or a suction bandage for a sucking chest wound and got back on the line. If hajji was still shooting, shooting back was most important, otherwise more guys could get hit. The two best ways not to get hit in a fire fight is covering each other and hitting as many of the enemy as possible until they break and run, or you do. Hopefully it's them. Good poem. Thank you

[Michael G. Smith]

I respect men like you, my father and brothers who are willing or have put your life on the line for us citizens. I tried to join the army but they wouldn't take due to a drug charge. I can only imagine what my fellow men go through out there on the line. I tried to capture some of the emotions here.

[Rita L. Sev]

An all too sad and true tale you tell, Mike - and you tell it so vividly and well.

[Michael G. Smith]

"Thanks Mrs.Rita". I'm mimicking your students, lol. Keep rocking and educating.

[Rita L. Sev]

Lol! We start back next week - I am ready!

[Avinash]

Never been a soldier in this life. But your poem sounds very familiar.

[uNmAsKeD-dEluSiOns]

I agree with noodlehead completely! This is truly amazing. Every line just hits you with this overwhelming feeling- so powerfully good. Word choice is very perfect and you really made me feel what you were saying here -once again :) This was incredible and I could really picture it in my mind, I really want a lot of people to read this- it deserves to be read!! :)

[Michael G. Smith]

Thank you so much. This another rewrite out of the archive. I've been on a writer's block of sorts but your comments are inspiring me.

[uNmAsKeD-dEluSiOns]

Oh yeah I just got over writers block not that long ago- I hate it. Oh and I'm glad they inspire you :)

[s y e]

Holy wow, Mikey this affected me and I can't even put in to words how much. Every stanza was powerful and had their own little mini story to tell. The imagery is so vivid and your wording so powerful. Excellent as ever!!!

[Michael G. Smith]

Thanks Nudel. I'm glad you thought it had an impact on you. Your and Delusions comments are inspiring me to break through my writers block.

[s y e]

Well tell that WB to go to hell and never come back!! We need your writes.

[Michael G. Smith]

Lol.............