Still Breathing
I was a balloon, the air
pushed into my chest.
My eyes were closed and I opened them.
There were boots and mud in my face.
Breathing was hard.
sucking air
Bodies gathered around me.
The sounds of automatic weapons seemed
to be a rippling that swelled from somewhere.
The smell of blood
I looked at his face. He wasn’t moving.
His mouth was closed.
I closed my eyes, and somebody
pushed them back open and looked at them.
Then he let them close. I opened them again.
He left.
The chopper jolted up.
“I still got a pulse!”
“You got no pulse, man.”
“I got a pulse…no, maybe not.”
The medic turned to me. He wore dark glasses.
“How you doing, big guy?”
I nodded.
“You play basketball?”
He started wiping
the corners of my mouth.
There was more noise,
I heard the zipper. I didn’t have to see it. I heard
the zipper.
I opened my eyes. A tall guy with shades stood over me.
There were scars on his body.
I didn’t ask him about his eyes. I didn’t want to
know.
I just kept looking at his face.
I thought of writing a letter, but I didn’t
have anything on my mind.
