__ Just men
Just men
A Poem by Coyote Poetry
First job in country of Kuwait in 1992. Move the dead frozen bodies from Death Valley.
(I got to Iraq. My first task was to move the frozen dead bodied of Iraqi soldiers
killed at Death valley.)
Listless and cold.
We moved the frozen dead bodies.
Men who were slaughtered by planes at Death Valley.
Air Force sent them to their god and paradise.
Four soldiers doing what we are told.
Working in silence.
My mind opt. out of thinking of the bodies as men.
No-one tried to claim the bodies.
We were told to move the frozen bodies to a larger storage container.
Then it would wait for somewhere to be ship.
Four men discussed the task after.
Joe told me he wanted to pray for them.
He asked me. “Does anyone care about these men?
I told him “somewhere there is a mother and
family who is heartbroken and sad.
They don’t know if these men are alive or dead.”
“Guns and bombs don’t give a shit who they kill.”
Joe forced us to pray.
He asked God to help these poor men on their journey.
He prayed they can go home and find peace.
We sat in silence.
Funny part after we pray for the frozen bodies.
We looked at the containers with different respect and eyes.
We went back to moving the dead.
We put them down with ease and kindness now.
Coyote
January 2009
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Thank you. I was lucky. I had men with good hearts near in war time. We must respect life. Alive or dead.
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How fortunate they were, someone cared enough to seek peace for their spirits. Thank you for this one John.
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Powerful stuff, it really moved me as it must have been so difficult but important to document. Thank you
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Some soldiers struggle with the dead bodies from Death Valley. I saw death as a child. Gave me a safety net. War leave empty hearts and places.
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I can’t imagine what it is really like but your writing give a dam good ingsight for those not having to deal with such things. Thank you
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sums it up really – glad you prayed for them
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We did and we treated them with respect.
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