To Watch a Brother Fall

by Jade Forester


Jackson slaps his neck,
crushing a single mosquito
that smears red on his skin.
The rest hover close by,
their incessant whining
ringing in his ears
as he eyes them hatefully.

He turns to Briggs and laughs,
their talk turning to home.
They walk side by side,
their old weathered boots
leaving deep muddy prints.
The others follow mutely behind,
their heads bowed to the earth
as leeches rain down from the trees.

Jackson is remembering his wife.
His eyes are soft and wet,
full of memories. She must get lost
for hours in those eyes.

Briggs is hit.
Color drains from his face,
droplets of sweat on his forehead
cooling and falling onto his shirt
as blood spreads hungrily
across his chest,
a poppy blooming
over his still, warm heart.

He falls, and Jackson falls with him.
As Jackson falls, his eyes cloud over,
and she falls with him,
falls laughing to the bed,
her kisses pulling him down,
her legs wrapping around him,
pulling him close.


A hushed silence fills the space
where a comrade stood
just moments before.

Through the silence
he hears her moaning,
writhing beneath him
as if in pain,
as if the heat of it will finish her.
And it almost does.
Her hands reach out for him,.
to hold him closer, tighter, longer.

His calloused hands remember
the feel of her body,
her warm summer skin,
her endlessly perfect lips,
even as he reaches out
to close his brother’s dead eyes.

They stand for a minute, maybe two.
We let our tears fall
with the jungle rain —
it is here,
under this tree,
in this earth,
that we leave our souls behind.

In the darkness,
Jackson hears things.
Animal things.
But he knows
all sane creatures have long fled,
leaving nothing
but leeches and men.

Address:
Veterans For Peace
William Ladd Chapter
P.O. Box 10
Deer Isle, ME 04627


e-mail:
vfpmaine@vfpmaine.org


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