Featured Poems for 9/3/20
THE SILENCE: SHOCK & AWE
I get out of the APC
to take a piss
sometime before dawn
the world lights on fire.
From horizon to horizon
rockets and artillery
tear up the Iraqi sky
the tanks firing
as fast as they can
do they have targets?
Fuck it, just shoot!
A10 Warthogs take their runs
Apaches prowl overhead
F16s streak across the sky
A cacophonous symphony
of modern war
stretching miles
across the desert.
Then we move forward
the mass of thousands
of armored vehicles
a metal tsunami wave
rolling forward
through the berms
swallowing up whole
the futile defenses
a proud people.
And then it is done
ceasefire.
We stop in place
in the middle
of a Republican Guard camp
burning wrecks
straggling survivors
mass graves
the sky at noon
pitch black from smoke.
Silence.
THE SILENCE: SEPTEMBER 1968
In the trail squad
of a platoon-sized patrol
as it makes its way up
the barely cleared path
through the jungle
nervous as hell.
Claymores shatter the jungle
impossibly loud
body-slamming explosions
intermixed with screams
oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
drops to the ground.
AK-47 and machine guns
and grenades warp
the air, push him into
the dirt
tracers in every direction
above.
Overwhelmed.
“Move your ass, cherry!”
barks the platoon sergeant
he leaps up, takes a step…
the Bouncing Betty
shoots up
explodes
between them
knocked off his feet
into the bushes
his legs, ass and back
on fire
Sergeant Hollis collapses
surprise
frozen on his face
all firing stops.
Silence.
Part II is here.
If you enjoyed the poems, please check out more of my poetry at Matthew Spira’s Poetry. My first collection, The End of the Rainbow, on sale now. Thank you for reading!
ABOUT MATTHEW SPIRA’S POETRY
My publication contains my poetry and stories. I tend to focus more on people than things, but I write about a wide variety of topics and moods. I am especially interested in the military/veteran experience, (single) parenting, and the bemusement of middle age. Many of the poems now have audio versions, with more coming soon!
