Stark horror
at what he'd seen.
No glory in that butchery
he'd just seen
a few miles back.
There was a silence
amongst them
heavy and subdued.
Just the *****
***** of boots.
Shouts of "Move on
keep going."
How to square with any
conscientious voice
he didn't know.
Seemed to have been there
a day or more.
One woman clutched
a dead child
to her dead breast
nearer to the road.
Others were further off
but still visible
piled like dead cattle.
None will speak of that.
It will be placed amongst
the unspeakable.
There was shelling ahead.
Gunfire and tat-tat-tat
of machine guns.
He readied yourself.
No birds sang.
Even the wind
had gone.
His finger itched
on the trigger.
Back home he guessed
his wife had taken
the kids to school
unless the school had gone
in the recent bombing.
The soldier in front
was the one
who lent him a cigarette.
Somethings
you do not forget.
Apr 11, 2018
Apr 11, 2018 at 12:31 PM UTC
Stark horror
at what he'd seen.
No glory in that butchery
he'd just seen
a few miles back.
There was a silence
amongst them
heavy and subdued.
Just the *****
***** of boots.
Shouts of "Move on
keep going."
How to square with any
conscientious voice
he didn't know.
Seemed to have been there
a day or more.
One woman clutched
a dead child
to her dead breast
nearer to the road.
Others were further off
but still visible
piled like dead cattle.
None will speak of that.
It will be placed amongst
the unspeakable.
There was shelling ahead.
Gunfire and tat-tat-tat
of machine guns.
He readied yourself.
No birds sang.
Even the wind
had gone.
His finger itched
on the trigger.
Back home he guessed
his wife had taken
the kids to school
unless the school had gone
in the recent bombing.
The soldier in front
was the one
who lent him a cigarette.
Somethings
you do not forget.
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