Collateral Damage
A Villanelle with Imagery
Published in
2 min readApr 3, 2020
They went in to fight, knowing they might not come back
Innocent lives are sacrificed, unintended targets are in death’s sight
Hoping to minimize the devastation, words engraved on plaques
Last gasps of breath, the sounds of war; a disturbing eerie soundtrack
A picturesque detachment in black and white
They went in to fight, knowing they might not come back
Running through jungles and marsh terrain, soldiers wishing to fall back
Only to be wounded by a sniper’s appetite
Hoping to minimize the devastation, words engraved on plaques
Another war with an unseen enemy viciously attacks
