Commandos, in Basic

by Mark Lalonde

Commandos

Charlie two four seven bravo

Platoon, tribe, home from home

Commandos

Huddled together

Steam rising and falling off our bodies,

Silent.

Listening to the

Letters from home

Telling us of other

Lovers.

Telling us of an alien

World,

With music

Laughter, and rest.

Speak volumes when you are

in the cold, huddled together, silent.

Waiting on the day

You finish your sentence.

When the horse breaker

Takes you to the pen

And whips you,

You’ll remember

Letters from home.

Try not to let them

Hear you

cry.

_____________

This first appeared in The Havok Journal on November 16, 2018.