#combat poems on Hello Poetry

My Dear Poet Feb 20

While you advance in front of me
I’m already a step ahead
studying your moves from behind

While you may rule over me
I’m only holding you up
for your fall

While you ignore me
you’ll forget to listen
and fail to hear when I come

#war #lose #fight #patience #combat #spiritual #principalities

Jeremy Betts Jan 17

~•§•~ The Glowing Ember of My Burnout ~•§•~

From day one, from the moment I was given one, my compass has had a faulty magnet
Why was that written into my script?
And why didn't I get a say in any of it?
Shouldn't I have been given a manuscript?
Explaining, for one thing, why I have to combat life and everything that comes with it?
How would you go about it?
Can't I just shrug it off, maybe let some shiit slip?
My path doesn't always need to be backlit
Certainly not by the ember of my burnout that fell from orbit
The punishment never fit the crime but I still submit that most of the claims are, in themselves, counterfeit
But I didn't quit in a panic
Not every life is a good investment
So I made the corporate decision to forfeit
Call it an early retirement
The more fitting term is a forced exit

©2024

#faulty #script #combat #explanation #path #dumpsterfire #punishment #quit #panic #forfeit

nick armbrister May 2023

Box Off

Box Off
The black box that tells of approaching enemy missiles is turned off
The black box that jams enemy missiles it turned off
The black box that dispenses radar jamming chaff is turned off
The black box that launches infra-red flares is turned off
The black box that gives out false position locations is turned off
The black box that plots enemy defence locations is turned off
The black box that steers a course round enemy radars is turned off
The black box that sees enemy anti-aircraft guns is turned off
The black box that should save our jet and our lives is turned off
We are now dead and our warplane is now destroyed
The black box should’ve been turned on

#tech #air #combat #war

nick armbrister May 2023

Race 2

Race 2
Same old **** going down
Graves of men now silent
Nowt much happening here
Just dead bodies buried
After being riddled blasted
Russians killed by Ukrainians
Prisoners mostly of Wagner
Sentences cut lives now cut
Politicians bathe in blood
They had quite a run
Still race in Part 2
Race 1 was a loss
No victory only death
Plus injuries and ruin
Battlefield injuries extreme
It's fine there's time
So much time here
Satan has all the time
In the world
Wait and see

Eventful War Book 2
Nick Armbrister and other writers

#battle #current #affairs #combat #soldiers #ukraine #russian #prisoners

Martin Mikelberg Aug 2020

combatteredandelions - a minimal haiku or ku

combat
battered
dandelions

The absurdity of war

#combat #battered #dandelions

Michael Stefan Feb 2020

Swashbuckler

Heave **! Your cry astounds
Flummoxing your enemies ashore
Debonaire you brandish pistol and sword
Cutting down resistant scallywags

Thy treasure shall be mine!
You dash haphazardly between slashes
Excitement and *** course through
Fueling you to victory

Imposing is thy stance!
Booted foot on stack of cannon *****
Actioned-packed adventure
As you reave and raid the seas

Your adventure keeps me alert
But my ship's an iron beast of land
I think of daring combat
And your exploits give me hope

I load my rifle in hot anticipation
Prepared to write my own adventure
The giant steel hatch lowers
And hot iron rips through me

My adventure ends prematurely
My *** is without excitement and masks pain
A hospital bed now serves as my galleon
Your book by my bedside, untouched

This poem was inspired by 3 months of laying in a hospital, as I had major surgery on my back, kidney, shoulder. It was a terrible experience that I would never want anyone to share. I remember being so ******* reading books about glamour and adventure. Rarely does adventure leave you without scars and war is far from glamourous. War is hell.

#veteran #recovery #support #supportsystem #war #combat #care

Michael Stefan Feb 2020

consciousness.

Am I ever awake anymore
Or do I ever dream at all
This war-torn landscape that is my mind finds no rest
I watch the clock tick by
A scout in infinite cubicle farms
One thousand, four hundred and forty
Instances of repetition
My numbed sense of excitement tingles as the clock reaches five
Ticking by each second turned to minute turned to gray
What happiness do I derive from completion of work
I sit sullenly watching sitcoms through red-rimmed eyes
I don't think I'll sleep again
I don't know if I have ever woken up
My reality is fading out to textured grays
Maybe I will fade out too
But night turns to day turns to ash
As I slowly count away
One thousand, four hundred and forty minutes left of consciousness

After a tragic deployment to Afghanistan, I struggled with insomnia pretty badly. I went weeks without getting any measurable quantity of sleep. I spent what felt like years on my couch trying to slow down my racing mind. It took a long time to adjust back to normal.

#insomnia #combat #sleep #suffering

Ellis Reyes Feb 2020

Turnaround

The metal floor is slicky
Desert heat amplifies
The odor of ***** and blood
Mostly empty IV bags hang on their stands
Packaging from numerous medical supplies
Litter the ground

Quickly and carefully I clean and spray and sweep and scrub
I sort and pack and refit and reorganize
Preparing the chopper for the next call

Lives were saved
But
I don’t know what will become of them
Some will leave the Army
Some will come back here
Some will do the job the enemy couldn’t do
And take their own lives

I can’t think about that
This is hard enough

Another day in the life of my roommate, a combat medic.

#helicopter #medic #war #combat #chopper #medevac

Ellis Reyes Feb 2020

Autorotate

Turning
Burning
Learning
Yearning
Blackhawk turning, HIT, cockpit burning
Troops learning of war, yearning for home

Continuing to experiment with poetic forms. My first in a series of Tyburns.

#war #combat #helicopter #blackhawk #uh60 #crash

Ellis Reyes Feb 2020

18 Delta

I can’t feel my legs
Stay with us, Buddy
The chopper’s inbound
I need some O-Positive

Stay with us, Buddy
Apply direct pressure
I need some O-Positive
Put that one over here

Apply direct pressure
I’ve lost the pulse
Put that one over here
Where’s the Chaplain?

I’ve lost the pulse
The chopper’s inbound
Where’s the Chaplain
I can’t feel my legs

18 Delta is the military occupational specialty designation for Special Forces medics.

This is the second in a series of Pantoums

#combat #army #medic