Smoke Break.

I wrote this while on deployment in Afghanistan.

The half-lit moon makes the stars seem brighter tonight, barely rising over the horizon and clearly shrouded by the sand and dust in the air. As I graze the area in front of me I can see the silhouettes of bodies. Tired and exhausted bodies slumped in chairs. Some already asleep in their cots, dreaming their night away with the distant future of returning to family and friends. I can hear the muffled laughter as Marines enjoy their nightly movie, but trying to keep quiet from the slumbering ones. With cigarettes in hand, water bottles strewn across the rocky ground, and perhaps a bag of chips here and there from packages. It becomes a routine every night, the only way for these warriors to get their minds off the day's stresses. To forget, even for a moment, of how long it has been. To quell the anxiety for moments at a time. The tour is nearing the end, that time when we're all boarding the plane. Hustling to get seated, anxious to get home. "I can't wait" we constantly say among ourselves. "I can't wait." I quietly thought to myself. And that's when I realized maybe I should get back inside. It was nice to have some anxiety quelled, a little bit of reminiscing. I put my cigarette out and walked back into the tent.