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Thursday 26 June 2008
Artificial
Not that I'm an expert,
but the artificial
leg in the corner
looks like
World War One era.
The war where shell-shock
had not been invented.
The war of two feelings: cowardice or courage.
Amplified courage,
if witnessed,
at times led to a medal on the chest.
An aid to remembering
the smell of excrement, puking heroes
and burning horse flesh.
Runaway cowardice,
If observed,
at times led
to a lonely pole in a torn-up field,
and the comfort of alcohol
a priest and a blindfold.
And in the trench of fear,
sometimes the feelings muddied. Cowardice
contorting courage.
Dull obedience outweighing
the cauldron of emotion.
And the soldier who
returned with less,
leans on his wooden leg
and longs to dream
of kicking the winner
for his local football team.
But his mind trips each sweaty night
as he wakes in a bed of wrestled sheets,
recalling his fall as the shell reduced him.
Sun Aug 3 2008 16:16