|
Alive? |
 |
|
Boone's Farm Strawberry Wine
One dollar a bottle
"Barkeep eleven Boone's Farm"
Drank straight from bottles
No one to impress
The aroma is pungent
Sweet as it
passes the tongue
Tingles passing tonsils
Mellows,
relaxes, breaks the armor
We know we're alive
The
headache in the morning
Will scream we're alive
Tonight we drink away the patrol
We're off until sunset
tomorrow
Let us feel something
The river flows
south of us
The nearest support soldiers
Thirty miles
south of it.
They'd never make it here.
Bridge goes
boom.
We're here to die
So the civilians might get
mad
Support one of our greatest
Allies for the last
fifty years
Civvies Don't understand the dead
"Barkeep eleven Boone's Farm"
"How many is that?"
"We've got all the bottles."
"Can't count that high,
now."
Stomach yells I'm alive
Jesse makes a
mistake
He's off to the latrine.
Thump reports where
he made it to
We'll get him home later
At least we're
alive
"Last Call, Soldier."
Slowly stand and head
for door
The Hahk strikes at the door
Knocked to knees
and hurl
Yep, still alive
Crawl half mile to the
barracks
Find the rack, fall asleep
Sirens howl,
screaming alert
Snap, one move he's on the floor running
No headache, must be dead
Down the stairs to the
armory
Draw weapons in boxers and T-shirt
Back up
stairs dress with armor
Grab pack and duffle bag
pre-packed
No feeling, no hangover
Down to
formation area
Drop pack and duffle in position
Up to
Company Headquarters
Relieve the CQ and runner
Though
we walk we're already dead
Sit in CQ until CO
arrives;
Join my squad, prepared to kill
Prepared to
die, inside helmet a letter
Last words to a daughter
never seen
Walking through Limbo
"Stand Down" just
a drill
No time to relax, prep time
Dark mission back
into No Man's Land
Inspection, re-load and wait
Protect living loved ones
Deuce makes many stops
We don't use them, rolling out the back
Woodland
camouflage covered with white
Weapons wrapped in white
strips
Silent Ghosts travel the valley
Find our
position sweep away snow
Lay down to wait GP Collier in
sight
We're out of range of most of their guns
Hahk
slices over us bundled for the subzero
Cold knives burn
we're alive
No contact back to base
Stand down
weapons secured
Equipment stored we can rest
One gets
a pass across the bridge
Count holes in tiles drift off. |
By Mark I. Kirkmeyer
Copyright 2007
Listed
July 9, 2012 |
|
|
About
Author...
Mark Kirkmeyer served as a Light Weapons/Medical Specialist in the U.S. Army (1983-88), the U.S. Army Reserve (1988-1992), and the California National Guard (1992-1995). He is Gulf War Veteran (1991) and served in Korea (1986-87).It is illegal to
use this poem without the author's permission.
~~ Send your comments and/or use permission request to
Mark I. Kirkmeyer ~~ |
Poem Use Permission Request
USA Patriotism! cannot
provide use permission for a poem or an author's email address
if not listed below the poem. Only the author or a legal
representative can grant permission. Try a search engine to find the
author's contact information for a use permission request or if
it is available for public use.
Note: Poems authored in the
1700s and 1800s can be used with reference to the author. |
Comment on this poem |
|
| | |
|
| War and Tragedy Poems | Poem Categories |
|
