The Silence: Soldiers in Heaven
Note: This poem sequentially comes after the Silence: September 1968, Part I and Part II.
Black smoke hangs in the air
A burning humvee,
the victim of a roadside bomb.
We kneel beside Gonzalez
behind the only intact wall
what had been a mud-brick house.
The squad pulls security
in a perimeter in the date trees.
The medic tends to Gonzalez
given the severity of the wounds
there isn’t much to be done
except make him comfortable.
Gonzalez wants to confess his sins
He barely speaks above a whisper.
“The act of perfect contrition.
You can do that, Marco.”
Gonzalez nods, he understands.
I help him pull out his crucifix.
“I don’t remember the words.”
“O my God, I am heartily sorry
for having offended Thee…”
He haltingly repeats after me
we carefully make our way
through the prayer.
The unmistakable sound
in-bound UH-60 Blackhawk
“I firmly resolve, with the help
of Thy grace to confess my sins
to do penance and to amend my life.”
“Amen,” we both say.
Gonzalez crosses himself.
Tears in his eyes as he looks up
at the sky. He has kept them open
throughout the prayer.
