AND THE DARKNESS FALLS

The F-106's are checked and ready for tomorrow's sorties,

I walk away from the lights of the flight line,

And the darkness falls.

I sit and watch casket after casket removed from a C-141,

The unloading complete, the lights go out,

And the darkness falls.

The area is lit up by WP, willy peter, white phosphorus, the finger of death,

Tracers fill the air; the enemy decides they have caused enough trouble for one night,

And the darkness falls.

The still has been blown up,

Made useless, all that is left is a few embers,

And the darkness falls.

My partner has been shot,

My weapon goes off time and time again,

And the darkness falls.

The raid has been successful,

The house has been checked and cleared of drugs,

The lights are turned out,

And the darkness falls.

I am on guard duty,

Day turns to night as I stand at my post,

A jeep comes to pick me up,

And the darkness falls.

There is nothing left but embers that glow in the night,

Lights have been put up to light the scene,

I walk to my car to leave,

And the darkness falls.

I have been on duty since one in the afternoon,

As I walk toward my car I hit a piece of a body,

The lights fill the search area as I walk to my car,

And the darkness falls.

It is the nineteenth of April,

I lay in my bed, trying hard to sleep,

My mind is filled with days past,

And I rerun them all in my mind,

As the darkness falls.

© Tina Rice, 2008