The metal beat to a crater
Exposing the mantle of flesh.
Behind those blue screens is a beast
Of skin and bone
Of fear and happiness.
Maybe a father, definitely a son.
No question an enemy.
Does it matter in these snowy wastes?
Are the man and soldier one?
Is his steel uniform his flesh or his shield?
The flesh that binds his pride to his heart? Or
the shield that keeps him from firing squads?
Again, does it even matter?
We are two men bound by orders.
Orders to kill one another with weapons of war. That
should’ve stayed in sadistic blueprints of the devil.
The pressure of the trigger pulled.
A single sundering sound brought to a flashing life.
Not a nanogram of regret.
Another day survived.
Another man his family will cry over.
Another order to come tomorrow to kill again.
(Poetry from The Hemlock’s Issue 6, Winter 2024)
About the Author
Elisha Thompson (He/Him) is someone who wants to write. He wants to try and make things that feel right to him and other souls, and sometimes that’s dark, sometimes it’s light. Either way, it’s him. Even if it’s not perfect, not the best, not in the right way. It’s still getting somewhere. It’s making progress, just like he is. Imperfect but beautiful, as is life.
The Hemlock Journal 
Leave a comment