A Soldier's Nightmares Poem by Hilda Ndenecho

The sounds were like thunder
As men fell under
In heaps like cattle
‘Win the bloody battle'
Was what was on a soldier's mind
The thought made him kill his own kind
Once the battle was won
All bravery was suddenly gone
As he looked on the fallen faces
Faces of dads, husbands, brothers and lovers
With his false conviction of victory
The soldier raised his shoulders
He inhaled the air of praises
As the army rode home on horses
In the arms of his love
He felt this was enough
But as the night fell
Fear gripped the soldier's heart
Reality was very tough
After the triumph of battle
Came the nights he evaded
It was time to faces the ghosts
Of men slaughtered without care
This was a soldier's nightmare