The Vanguard

A thunderous roar shatters the silence

Like the hounds of hell being unleashed

The earth trembles under the might of men

Step by step, the grass bows before their boots...cowering in fear

The artillery fires

The missiles shriek and scream across the skies

The earth is in the air....flying everywhere 

This...this kaleidoscope of death...

This is where we enter

Guns blazing...the smell of gunpowder filling our every breath

The barrel jerking and shuddering in our hands

Through the fire we run...heads held high

Don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall!

To fall is to die...to die is to lose

The burning grass has given way to sand

Yet onwards we run...we, the vanguard

No one looks to their left or to their right...

We brave few have only one mission...to go forth

Onwards...we cannot even see the enemy

Through the smoke, clouds, dust and fog, he is an invisible force

Lurking just ahead...coming towards us just as quickly

Ferociously...determined....

Suddenly they are upon us...we see the whites of their eyes

We lash out with the rest of our energy...

We hope to slash their very soul...death is our only mission

Our faces contort to masks of rage as we slash and hack

We strike, kick and stomp...anything that causes pain, we use

Blood flows freely here...covering our faces, blurring our sight

The bitter taste stains our mouths as we strike them down

Our rage is so great, we feel no pain...the only thing we feel is our anger, our fury

We take lives as quickly as we can...

Moving on from one body to the next

The stream is never ending, but we are not deterred

Through the smoke, dust, fog and flesh...we fight.

__________________________________________________

The pain catches me off guard and I stumble

My side is wet; I clutch it as I fall

I grab in vain to stop myself, but it’s too late...

I hit the sand face first, planting my palms into the gritty pebbles

I need to get back on my feet, so I grasp at the earth

Trying to find my strength

That’s when I see him...

As I crawl through the river of blood soaked sand, I see my end

He runs towards me at full speed, his knife raised above his head

I turn onto my back and raise my hands to catch his death blow

We grapple, turning over and over in the red sand

As I struggle against his strength, I feel mine drain

My resistance weakens as his blade gets closer and closer to my heart

My mask of rage is gone...instead; a wave of realisation hits me

This is it.

This day, I lose...finally lose. 

Still I fight...pushing upwards with all the strength I have left....

I scream into his face, my fury growing weaker as his grows stronger

Then it happens...

The blade pierces my soul

I lie still...still screaming in anger

My screams grow more garbled as my throat fills with blood

He pulls out and pierces me again, each thrust more powerful than the last

I feel the pain no longer...

I stare into his eyes...my face has gone still

He pulls the knife out my chest and runs onwards, plunging it into another fallen

Bodies fall all around me

Soon, even he will join them...

I lie looking at the sky...I can finally see it

The blue slowly emerges from behind the fog of red and black

Far above, an eagle soars

I watch her move effortlessly through the heavens

The noise has gone...silence once again envelops the land in its sweet embrace

I blink...

This is it

I try to take one last breath, but I can’t...

My lungs ache for air...

I blink...

My fingers clutch the sand at my sides

This is it!

I blink...

Once again the thunderous roar blasts furiously

The ground begins its trembling

The boots commence their march

I’ve done my duty...good luck comrades...

I close my eyes and face the unknown

My hands unclench as I cease to move

My tired body rests

[March 24th 2010]