Invasion of Normandy

The moment has come.

You stand there numb

with your brothers-

strangers

Standing with you.

Not a sound is heard

except for your breathing

and pounding of your heart

against your ribs,

in your ears and throat…

You ride the waves.

Suddenly, almost without warning

the huge heavy steel mouth

of the cage you were in

throws itself down

and spews you and the rest out-

into hell.

You somehow approach the beach

wanting to remember none of it.

Finger on the trigger

people- your friends, your country!

Dropping like flies all around you

yet you and the others forge on,

Killing, destroying and killing more.

Men, bodies, things-

A blur is all they are to you.

The enemy and your survival pushes you on-

there’s no backing out.