A Grunt's Pov Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

Sun overhead blazing down
sand and biting flies
fear and diarrhea
and a shit-storm
of high velocity rounds
zinging

Ain't no place for me
he thought
I could have been
a contender
in the marketplace

He thought long and hard
before the command
came down to take out
the outpost with its ragged
defenders outside Dong Tam

The medic who found his remains
tagged him and bundled them
in a green plastic body bag
for shipment home

May God have mercy
he said as he knelt in the sand.