I read a book recently written by Tim O’Brien. He’s a new author to me, and so I intend to read his books in chronological order. The first one is called If I Die in a Combat Zone, about the Vietnam war, and it inspired this poem. I was of the going-to-war age toward the tail end of theVietnam war, but I was not called to go. Two of my older cousins went, and thier account of it matches many others I have heard. It was hell.
Guard Duty
When the night comes
The ritual of guard duty begins
Telling tales of night terror
We stare long and silent
Into an opaque shell of shadows
And dark
Three men to a foxhole
Two sleep while one remains awake
No smoking
Charlie sees your light
He’ll blow your lungs out
Stealing a victim from cancer
Maybe nothing will happen
But this is war, so who knows
And it doesn’t matter
Fall asleep during your watch turn
The punishment is court martial
Hmm… wonder what that’s like
Copyright © 2013 C Mashburn
Sharing this with dVerse Poets Pub on their Poetics feature this afternoon.
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claudia said
ah heck…i think that tears on the nerves…the listening, watching, waiting and not knowing what happens next…i bet the night has thousand eyes when you’re on guard duty and the hours must feel endless until day break..
charlesmashburn said
Your comment reminds of when I was a teenager and worked in the hay fields irrigating at night. Just me, the snakes and the coyotes. And, yes, there seemed to be a thousand eyes watching from the dark.
Thanks, Claudia! (I’ll probably have nightmares tonight!)
ManicDdaily said
Wonderful poem, Charles. And so great that you are reading Tim O’Brian. He is one of my favorite authors. Going After Cacciato is a bit crazy – fanciful – but great, and The Things They Carried is heartbreaking. He’s so good. I liked this very much. Thanks. k.
charlesmashburn said
Reading the first book already inspired three poems. The guys is a great writer.
Thanks for the great comment, k!
ManicDdaily said
He really is. His books are so very moving. They are just terrific. k.
brian miller said
for some i think it might be a relief from the tension of knowing deaths shadow…but then again you are letting down your buddies…he is the one that wrote th things we carried right? enjoyed that book…
charlesmashburn said
Ye, that’s one of his. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of them. Great writer!
Thanks, Brian!
Myrna said
Don’t know if I could say this is nice ’cause there’s nothing nice about war. My husband didn’t go to Vietnam, but he swears where he went was worse. It was a tour in isolation. Hard to recall those days. You captured the torture of it all, in so few words. So well done.
charlesmashburn said
No, nothing nice about this one, Myrna. Thanks for the visit and “nice” comment though!
cloudfactor5 said
foxhole prayers on the edge of darkness !! I liked you take on the prompt !!
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much! I’m glad you like it!
Grace said
A terrible way to live and die, during war ~ Nice to see you Charles ~
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much, Grace!
Mary said
A vivid picture of what war was like in the foxhole. This kind of ‘war’ seems so different than war now, doesn’t it?
charlesmashburn said
Yes, desert warfare is a whole nother animal.
Thanks, Mary!
Kelvin S.M. said
…you demostrate the usual scenario of being duty while everyone’s asleep very well… always wondered what they really talked about during those witching hours of deafening silence & mystery…at least got a bit of a hint… smiles…
charlesmashburn said
Thanks, Kelvin! I appreciate the visit and comment!
ManicDdaily said
Charles – you may like to check out this great Iraq war poet, Brian Turner. I think he is so good. Most famous poem is Here, Bullet – which is also a book –so good. Here’s a link to an NPR interview –these good too.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5126583
charlesmashburn said
Thanks, k! I will check him out.
marousia said
Excellent suspenseful writing – adore this image “an opaque shell of shadows”
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
However, I can’t take credit for that image. It came from the book.
pandamoniumcat said
An awesome write Charles…that last line really hits hard. You would wonder wouldn’t you… Terrific take on the prompt! 🙂
charlesmashburn said
I did use some lines out of the book, but that last one is mine. In the book, Mr. O’Brien talks about the irreverence of some of the troops in that awful war, and details how so many of the young men fighting in it were confused, wondering why they were there. Lots of young men fled the U.S. to avoid going, and many who went surely had thoughts that maybe court martial and/or jail would be better than dying for reasons they couldn’t understand.
Thanks, Dianne.
zongrik said
i guess the good side of all this is that they can’t smoke. it won’t kills them 😉
hades gate
charlesmashburn said
Yes, that would be about the only positive in the situation.
Thanks for the visit and comment!
Sabio Lantz said
Dark realism of war.
Well penned.
“Charlie” {The V.C. (Victor Charlie)} and “Stealing a victim from cancer” show your age!
We all eventually die. We all choose how to live.
I was a C.O. for that war – #52 , war ended before I was called
to prison. “Hmmm .. wonder what that had been like?”
charlesmashburn said
Thanks for the great comment, Sabio!
Sabio Lantz said
You’re welcome. Missed yours.
charlesmashburn said
So sorry. I thought I read and commented on your poem! My bad!
lucychili said
isolation or war, what a choice. stark poem. sadly real.
charlesmashburn said
Thank you very much!
siggiofmaine said
Very thought provoking. Thank you.
Peace.
charlesmashburn said
I’m glad you thought so, Siggi!