Departing The Battlefield
Amid the explosions all around someone yells, “Grenade!”
The soldier sees it
pouncing on it without thinking
His sergeant is by his side an instant after it goes off
The sergeant looks over the soldier’s wounds reassuring him it will be ok
All the soldier can do is ask if the rest of the men are ok
The sergeant assures him they are
Even as the sergeant sees the damage done, he keeps reassuring the soldier,
The soldier stops him saying, it’s ok – I’m going home
The sergeant thinking he is delirious, calls for the medics
The soldier stops him saying again, – it’s ok
And as the sergeant looks down at him the soldier fades away
The sergeant nodding his head as he gets what the soldier meant, closing the soldier’s eyes.
