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| Written and submitted by Ernest A. Botti, 1st Lt. USAF, 339th/319th Fighter Squadrons
THE GRAY BEFORE THE DAWN The mist hangs like a dirty drape - Formless shapes struggle to escape - Lying on my back - stands of water on three sides. Swirls - like tidal pools when I was a kid - Life teeming in a little world -star fish -squid - Sand all over my weapon - none to play with. My boots are wet - my feet are cold - What am I doing here -am I to grow old? Thunder in the sky - planes flying by - Can't see them -clouds hung out to dry. Don't sleep much - we're in for a big one - Waiting for the dawn - waiting for the Sun. This is an odd place - Everyone with the same face - Can't drink the water - rations are poor - Bed down at night - the earth for a floor. Complain? - can't do that - my choice - I enlisted Could have listened to the old folks - as they insisted. Mortar rounds screaming overhead - Sickening thud! - giant craters - filled with the dead. Had a girl back home -she's waiting - Last moments - gave her a gentle kiss - parting. I thought that I would be forever young - But within a week my hair turned - I've been stung. The Sun is up - parting the Gray We are sons and daughters of prey - Our minds buried in this mire - Here they come! - HELL IS ON FIRE!!! |
