Troubled Veteran
By Marrisha Jedrzejek
Alertness befriends me
As I stand ready and poised.
The threatening gunshots around me
Disperse a deafening noise.
Soldiers are scurrying
To get things done.
They all realize this isn’t
The right time for any fun.
Suddenly a scream
Rings out from the distance.
Every soldier stops
To watch and to listen.
We begin our journey
As quietly as we can.
Our boots filling quickly
With the hot Iraqi sand.
We enter the scene
Quite cautiously and slow.
Our commander instructs us
To keep quiet and low.
The scene is not pretty
There’s bullets everywhere.
For a moment we did nothing
But just sit and stare.
Then we dove right in
So fearless and brave.
We fought with a vengeance
So many lives we had to save
The enemy led us
On a terrifying chase
We quickly followed suit
In temptation and haste.
But as we grew further from the crowd
I heard a devastating sound.
And I quickly turned to see
My fellow comrade on the ground.
I quickly turned back
There was no time to rest.
But when I got to his side
He’d taken his last breath.
I fell to my knees
Tears sprung to my eyes.
And I prayed to the heavens,
“God, please tell me why”
I dared to look
At his broken figure.
But when I saw the blood and wounds,
I didn’t loom or linger.
I felt myself
Being carried gently away.
And as I opened my eyes
I suddenly jolted awake.
I realized then
That it was just a nightmare.
My experiences of war
That are truly hard to bear.
My heart beating fast
Sweat pouring from my skin.
I tried to come to terms
With the pain and hurt within.
That night, I cried
For all it was worth
I buried my face
The wounds and the hurt.
My tears fell like rain
As I lay in bed alone.
I cried in pure shame
Of what the people didn’t know.
Then soon I cried
Myself back in to dreams.
But what stuck in my head
Was that awful scream.
Because of that scream
My buddy had died.
While serving his country
And doing what was right.
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