In The Line Of Fire

By Rebecca Anne DeCillis

Nam was a place {the men} they feared,
as they were torn from their women, a reality neared.

What begun as a mission to get Them to listen,
Stopped just short of murder and a suicide vision.

The chopper dropped them, now they were in,
Then a lustful demon slipped under their skin.

Courage and bravery could not save them now,
They could feel something was wrong somewhere, somehow.

Trying to fight the war on booby trapped land,
And the battle within was taking a stand.

My foxhole was home, the bombs were my grace,
My weapon and ammo gave a defensive pace.

The rain, the bugs, the sweltering heat,
Day after day, we know the repeat.

To strive for comfort did not settle the fright,
The enemy we learned owned all of the night.

The grass, the letters the drink masked our touch,
Still my brothers are gone and missed very much.

How did I make this unbearable cut?
And what did we fight for, our country or what?

We lost the war, we lost ourselves,
As we hung all innocence up on the shelves.

I did not want to be here, nor did I want to back home,
For my family and friends leave me feeling alone.

Good-bye jungle, farewell to that strife,
The memories of war are now a part of my life.

Although I survived long enough to retire,
I lost myself in the line of fire....

by Rebecca Anne DeCillis