IN A JUNGLE FAR FROM HOME

By kheldar

Tue, 23 Nov 2010
  • 2397 reads
11 comments
 

I've seen them come
I've seen them go,
Some are strangers
Some I know;
Some are shot
While some are stabbed,
Some by silent foe
Are grabbed.

Some die without e'er knowing
They take their final breath,
Some scream their pain for hours
Watched by patient Death;
Some I place in body bags
Some there's nought to place,
Some joke as they are dying
Some see another's face.

Some time soon, so very soon
Death will watch o'er me,
A brief flash in the darkness
Mayhap the last I'll see;
A blade across my windpipe
Perhaps the last I'll hear,
In this foreign landscape
My doom draws ever near.

I've seen them come
I've seen them go,
Friends or strangers
This I know:
In a jungle far from home
They fought with guts and pride,
Upon that farthest shore of all
I'm once more at their side.

Copyright DM Pamment 22nd November 2010

Certificate 15
THE HUMAN CONDITION
Other Fiction

Comments

Submitted by Highhat on
Having grown up in the 60's and 70's neither I shall ever forget this war. ;)Pia

Submitted by kheldar on
Hi Pia, thanks for reading and commenting. I knew little of it at the time but I know i will never forget what i've seen of it since. :--)

cool

Submitted by pinda on
Well done kheldar, done a very good job in showing the brutal reality of this war. Great use of repetition as well. X Pinda

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on
I agree, whole heartedly, with all that has been said. A moving and thought-provoking poem. Tina ;-)

 

Submitted by Bradene on
Hear Hear to everything, and now we have to watch the whole thing happening again in the Gulf and Afghanistan. Well written Kheldar. Val

Submitted by kheldar on
Thank you so much Pinda, Tina and Val; there is something quite satisfying in writing a piece that strikes a chord with people. Thanks to all three of you agin for reading and for commenting. Kheldar :-) xxx

cool

Submitted by maggyvaneijk on
Great work, the poem has a good pace, marching the reader along. One of my favourite "Vietnam War books" is The Things They Carried and your piece definitely reminded me of it.

 

Submitted by kheldar on
Thanks so much for that maggy, to be reminded of a favourite piece of someone else's work means a lot. I have found an excerp of The Things they Carried on Amazon so I will check it out. My own favourite of that ilk is "Fields of Fire" by James Webb. Thanks again for reading and for your kind comment. :--) xxx

cool

Submitted by Kahdai on
Wow this is thriller, maybe about vietnam, except to me it could be about all death. K x

"I will make sense with a few reads \^^/ "

Submitted by kheldar on
Hi Kahdai, I could wish for no better response than "wow". thank you for reading and commenting. :--) xxx

cool

Submitted by Kahdai on
^^ welcom veriy xxx

"I will make sense with a few reads \^^/ "