When You Are In War

A Soldier going through a war....just something i wrote after watching band of brothers

A soft whoosh, a piercing scream, silence.

Soundless bullets still fall like rain
And the forecast for tomorrow is cloudy.
The literature got it wrong
Hell smells like cordite, not sulfur.
Conversations start but have no end
There will be no shortage of angels tonight.

Young men, old men, all men, amen.

Sound roars back into play.
Muzzle flare flashes like lightning
With a gentle repeating thunder.

Reload, reload, reload, empty.

Green turns red, but we don’t listen, don’t stop.
Blood, mud, paste, stains everything.
It doesn’t wash off.
Don’t run with scissors, mama said
Guess she didn’t mean bayonets

Bravery, brothers, bullet wounds, bandages.

We go on, general’s orders.
Our feet ache just like our hearts
Though in some the beating has stopped.
Wish we could go home.

Courage, commendations, captains

Daring, destruction, death.

Peace falls like a shroud.
Fragile and almost incomprehensible
The silence reverberates

Safety, sorrow, salvation.

Reviews

[Raivenne]

"Peace falls like a shroud.
Fragile and almost incomprehensible
The silence reverberates"

I really felt the impact of your words. By the time I got to these lines I could easily imagine how unsettling peace must seem after all that has been endured. Excellent post.

[N/A]

I really like this, original and has impact.War is utterly terrible and I'd say your poems shows this.

xx

[LJW]

Thank you for entering this in my contest and congratulations on your win.

Profound, original, with impact.

[cest la vie]

As an Army veteran, thank you.. You NAILED this piece.
Excellente"

[MoonlitAngel]

I agree with Naomi. Very heartfelt. Thanks for sharing.

--Blood

[Naomi Montana Walsh]

You really reach out and feel this subject with your own heart , and the reader can feel it as well , not only well done as poetry but beautiful , not just words pasted on a page .. but words with heavy weight that sinks into the soul of the reader..