In That Other Place Poem by Kyle Schlicher

i manage to pull myself
together.
my heart is beating wildly
ginger baker like.

my head hurts, ears ringing
like church bells
on a sunday morning.

another explosion, the ground shakes
i am trying to hold it
together.

another explosion close by,
i can hear hot pieces of metal
buzzing through the air.

i bury my face, my hands
holding my helmet in place.

I think of home, many thousands of miles
away,
how i wish i was there now,

safe and faraway

in that other place.

(12-22-1968)