tread this garden,
undug holes in
sterile sand
dispatch me.
scorching sun
sucks out sweat
from me,
stirs infernal blood.
familiar vacant eyes
yesterday,
now frightened...hostile...
trembling.
weapon
tightly gripped,
body armor welcome burden,
moving forward
in sepia world,
arid.
loud Thump ahead,
dust-smokeball
up and out,
distant shouts, moans,
inverted auto, ragged
tires spinning
clawing air.
men and women, kids
in rags gawk,
help men and boys
in desert cammo
tend the maimed
and dead.
trembling relief
it wasn't us
this time,
wrenching grief for them,
guilt it wasn't us,
afraid
we're next.
I live to leave
this sterile garden
that I fear
I cannot bring
to life.