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For DC Corporal, D Company, 41st Infantry, Operation Desert Storm

By Dave Connolly

Look; it doesn't matter, Dave,
if the war lasted four years
like my old man's
or four days like yours.

The Beast is in you now
and will live and breathe
as long as you do,
sometimes full-blown in your head,
its breath, foul with flash and flesh,
addling your senses.

And the people,
friends and enemies alike,
will once again
have lungs and limbs shredded,
lose heads and hearts and hands.
Their blood and brains
will once again mist
the bunkers and the fighting holes
and the cabins of ACAVs
and still they won't stay dead.

And you'll wake and shake
as we all do,
wondering if for you
the war will ever end.

Dave Connolly