Walking the Bush

Early morning.?Dripping leaves. Light creeps with wakefulness.

Pill of C4. Deep drags.?Wipedown.?Wipeup.?Hope I can do this tomorrow.

Quiet conferences. Dampen the fire of the soul.?Just another day.

Pack. Lift.?The bands cut already.?Shift the dog tag chain.?Don’t mean nothun.

Careful wrapping of the belt. Check wire on the frags.

Buddy assist to my feet.?We all look alike.?We are all different and all the same.

My brothers for life.?Follow the leader.

Lines of detached souls. Some walk in file.?Others are staggered.?

Some close together.?Some grenade distance apart.??

Depends on the situation.??

But they all walk. Hunched over.?Managing personal pains within the larger group. Trying to forget.?Trying to remember.?The?

endless personal mental management of each day.

Mind in neutral.?Momentary sounds register.?Harsh sounds last forever.?Its important we make the sounds first.

Hills are climbed.?Streams are crossed.?Trails checked carefully.?

Stops.?Starts.?Cautions and continuances.

The ruck in front looks like mine.?Study the creases.?The grease.

The bulges.?Occupies the mind.

Up front.?Focus and fear.?Constant companions.

Quiet talk.?No talk.?Screams and yells. Intensity.?Boredom.?Fear.

Exhaustion. Exhilaration.?All day.?Every day. Work through it.

What will we find??Will we be found first? What can we avoid?

What will we have to do??What will happen?

To me??To us??A combat quiz show.

Quick cutting sound of links scattering on branches.?Sudden flashes of shiny brass coursing through the air around me.

Thunks and thumps.?Screaming birds.?Furtive breath.?Sudden silence.?Shouts and screams.

Gather and go again.?

The guinea pigs of combat.?Lab rats in a mortal maze. Follow the lines.?Get to the objective. Seek and you may find. More or less than desired or expected.?Life is chance.

Is there an opening or is it closed??Who is in charge??Is anybody watching??Maybe we can cheat.?Maybe not. Bad guys get to vote.

Life here is an open election but chance rules as much as reason.

Good guys and bad guys are interchangeable.?Depends on your perspective. Both look and act the same.

I see all the faces.?They have all seen mine. Can we remember??

Always and sometimes never.?I hope to see them again.?They will last forever.?A gift and a penalty of humping together.

A few lead.?The rest follow.?Some have instincts.?Others have none.?The thin line between primordial alertness and utter exhaustion.?Are the bad guys rested??Why me??Can’t be for the money.?Must be for the thrill.

The thrill is gone.?

It’s God or the Devil and we never know.?Combat contestants in the local game being played.?Pawns of someone’s power.?Players but not controllers.?Fate manages outcomes.?Just keep moving.

?Thinking is a waste of valuable energy.?Dreaming is deadly.

The Devil waits in many forms.?Ours to explore and discover.

We course through each other’s territory.?Now mine.?Now theirs.

A game of Thrones with fatal consequences.?No carnival ride here.

Size don’t matter.?Quick and sly does.?They prove it.

This may be fun once the games are begun.?Or not.

Each a God for a moment………or a sacrifice.?Works for both sides.

Life is problematic.?How do I deal with this?

Going local is a necessary survival skill.?Local is basic, close and highly personal.?Local is taking and giving but without house odds.

?Life is a gamble.?We always prove it.

Life is now.?No past.?No future. The next step.?The next moment.

The now.?

Bibles and bayonets-both have equal value but in different events.

Don’t get them mixed up.

Out in the bush, souls are on the run.?Door A or Door B.

Everyone else will see which you choose.?

The windmills of the mind.

Hope to see tomorrow