Old Soldiers

 

Old Soldiers

 

Nostalgia

 

There were good things,

simple things, often.

A pal giving you his last fag.

The adjutant passing a flask:

brandy from a bar

far from the trenches.

A kiss blown through a window,

at the batallion marching past:

every Tommy thought it meant

for him.

 

Soldier’s Heart

 

From Gilgamesh to Glasgow Jock on the pavement,

a soldier’s heart is broken by dreams

of death and noise and fear.

The blind soldier at Marathon could not see,

because he would not see,

the death of another friend.

 

Shell Shock

 

It was a noise

a noise like no other:

sometimes a warning scream,

others simply the thunder

of an angry God.

Oh! The time it rained

limbs and blood.

No wonder some

beat a retreat

to silence

or catatonia.

 

PTSD

 

It sounds so new,

so scientific,

measurable

and specific:

simpler for all,

except for those

who have it.