Poetry 8: The War, Lost

Strange the mixture of fear and courage
That filled his heart as he neared the
Enemy.
His gun held tight against his chest, he leaned
On whatever support he could find.
Little.
Even strong walls seemed not to bear his weight
Nor did his legs which quaked beneath him.

Alone,
Though behind him a hundred others equally
Filled with fear, courage, hatred, confusion,
Alone.
The time would be soon, the tension rose.
Anticipation grew, he readied himself, the order
Came
And with a burst of adrenalin, he charged forward
Firing his well-oiled weapon at anything
Moving,
He hardly saw what. Enemy and friend alike,
They fell around him, the air filled with gunfire,
Cries,
Pain,
Death,
Oblivion.

Beside him stood another, a Dark Companion,
Invisible, incorporeal, who fed him with lust
For blood,
Close now to warm flesh, too close for guns,
The knife at gun’s end became spear slashing,
Stabbing,
Cutting down whatever was in his way
Be it warm or cold, he saw it not nor could he

Feel it
Until suddenly he found nothing more to strike.
No more targets met his eyes. Firing ceased.
Silence
Surrounded him. His eyes still red, his breath ragged
His heart still pounding, pounding, pounding,
Beat
Upon him, and the stillness around him. Where was
Friend? Where was foe? Where was he?

Rejoice!
Spoke the Dark Companion. His heart swelled
With joy at victory! But where was foe? Where
Friend?
Looking round him he saw and, stunned, away.
Friend or foe, all alike they lay, quiet,
Broken.

“Where is my rendezvous?” Training, not mind
Spoke to him. “Where do I go to find
Home?
Suddenly weak, he dropped his gun and bending
To retrieve it saw the pools, his boots, his
Red feet,
And fell to his knees, vomiting breakfast, lunch,
A lifetime of dinners, his belly, his brain, his heart,
His life

Onto the ground so bestrewn with death.
Victory lost, he was alone, bereft of self and
Red.
No bullet took him, no bayonet, no lack of
Courage nor disobedience to human orders, but
Despair;
In his success he found utter failure. Disobeying
His higher orders, he had ailed and died in his soul.

The Dark Companion
Laughed.