Garrison

by Nick Orton

War is anticipation

But the deployments are slowing down

And the wars are over

You’re a garrison soldier now

Now hurry up and wait

The old breed looks down on you

You missed the last twenty years

Those shadows are cast long

You’re one of the “have-nots.”

So hurry up and wait  

Chasing badges and tabs is all you can do

Rifle range twice a year

An FTX here or there

But you’re red on MEDPROS now

So hurry up and wait

They say we may “deploy”

Hypothetical enemies on a rotational basis

The train up is starting

But we got a last-minute tasking, it’s a priority

Now hurry up and wait

So now you sit in a Louisiana swamp

You go back into the field when you get home

Reflect melancholy on what could have been

And snap out of it

Remember you used to dream about this as a kid

_______________________________

Deadlined Poetry is a literary side project of two brothers getting a lot wrong and a little right along the way. Featuring poetry of life, pain, humor, and times in a “peacetime” Army and Marine Corps. Occasional poetry can be viewed at: @Deadlined_Poetry (Instagram). “Nick Orton” is the author of the two poems “Predestination” and “Laughter and Pain”

Nick is an active-duty member of the US Army and logistics officer. He has had a long-standing love of writing and has begun his own writer’s journey. He has authored the book “Tales From The Grid Square Volume I,” a collection of 240 stories from across the branches of the US Armed Forces as well as foreign militaries of strange events and instances. He can be reached through the Instagram account @Tales_From_The_Gridsquare or email: TalesFromTheGridSquare@gmail.com.