The After-Shocks

As I closed my eyes to sleep I dreamt of that trench stinky and deep That lovely place they called Da Nang That I now recall with a terrible pang The war had to be fought they said I signed the slip and sped As I lay bleeding in that hole Men beside me broken and never would be whole Mortars hitting hard with a thud Blood mingled with sweat and mud They walked with my half dead body Amid corpses and earth all bloody Booby traps were set everywhere Marching forward for a destination unaware The screams of friends who lay dying alone Still echoed in my heart where it is sown And now that the war was over Why does every sound make me duck under cover? By- Tahera Mannan For Miranda’s ‘WORLD OF WAR: VIETNAM’ Contest