So, How was the War? by Hugh Martin

Author:Hugh Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Kent State University Press

THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR AND THE O.I.F.

SOLDIER

Rusty tank shells surround the dug out battle positions.

Beyond these abandoned trenches and casings is Jalula,

a khaki, gray, brown blur of broken buildings and mud-made mansions.

The town lingers between dozens of stale, sandy foothills

and a snaky river of garbage, swill, and shit.

He finds it all relaxing, even calm.

Twenty years too late for the action.

He knows it was loud then and wonders if the gas was dropped here,

carried by the same breeze touching him now.

Atop the dry, crunchy hill the world is silent, peaceful.

Only the instruments of battle have been left behind:

the duds, foxholes, steel scraps,

and shredded armor poorly tattooed into the worn, tired terrain.

He imagines a T-62 hiding behind a trench, firing east,

high into Iranian hills. Foot soldiers lumber forward

like hesitant extraterrestrials with their black masks donned and sealed.

Somewhere in the direction of the rounds’ impacts

a sound begins faintly of the twitching enemies’ mouths

exploding and ejecting

screams and vomit.

He is alive. A man on his earth.

To his back, down the hill, sit the gun trucks, leadership.

He is the western point of the 360 security,

and he’s able to watch the sunset.

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