We rolled up on the blast site
like mad hornets on auto-pilot,
we had seen shit like this before.
A Bradley had been incinerated.
two skeletal passengers
grinned at us
through blackened teeth
as the locals cowered
in their metal-door alcoves.
An Apache leveled three positions
surrounding us,
while seven bearded men got bagged,
tagged, zip-tied and hauled away.
I saw a foot without a boot
standing straight up
in the middle of the road,
some intestines were being
gobbled up by a manged dog.
I kept my finger at the ready,
my Kevlar buttoned down tight,
my eyes burned from diesel smoke.
It was no fucking joke,
bad things happened there,
I'll never forget
the way it made me feel.
Sick inside.