A Villanelle of War
The mortal soul is shattered by a war
much like a body blown by bomb or shot,
the pain recedes but never goes away.
The guilt remains because he could not save
those men who died when he arrived too late,
his mortal soul was shattered by the war.
His terror as the bullets passed his plane,
and snapped at him as if the jaws of death,
the fear recedes but never goes away.
their mothers, wives, and children left to grieve,
their souls forever shattered by the war.
How can he ever clear that guilt or ask
forgiveness from the men whose lives he took?
The guilt recedes but never goes away.
He sees friends' bodies strewn in rice-green fields,
and ghosts of men he killed in burning woods.
His mortal soul is shattered by that war.
The pain recedes but never goes away.
