War Diaries - 3 Part Poetry Series

The next 3 poems were an ambitious idea to create a fictitious story with real times, places, and people. It is about a soldier and his shift of thought throughout the 6 years in the Iraq war. There is a yearly gap in-between the poems to cover the entire course of the war from 2001 to 2007.


War Diaries - Year 1

It's been a rough start, but we're making good progress.
Last week, Bush declared the war a success.
We cheered him on for being a gung-ho president.
Meanwhile, we've been gathering military intelligence
on the whereabouts of Afghanistani and Iraqi insurgents.
Al-Qaeda's on the move, but we're tracking their men.
I've never seen so much violence; car bombs and suicide bombers are running rampant.
I just witnessed an IED blow up and kill my friends.
2 soldiers with two precious kids who met a horrific end.
I guess everything that has a beginning has an end,
but I still think this war is something that we will win.
We'll bring victory to this war against terrorism.

War Diaries - Year 3

I'm in the middle of serving my second term in this war.
Man, I miss my family more than ever before.
We've managed to stabilize the Afghani core.
I'm glad Hamid Karzai wants something more.
Political progress will form a new democratic regime.
Meanwhile, we turn to Saddam's communist machine.
He's been helping Al-Qaeda by housing them in his countries surroundings.
Bin Laden's been trodding, showing no signs of stopping.
We wonder if he's alive of dead,
and with growing number of soldiers getting killed,
I don't see an end to the war just yet.
I often dream of sleeping with my wife in our bed;
she told me she had a healthy baby girl at October's end.
I'm a father and I didn't even get to witness her first breath.
My goal has become to survive and see my family by escaping death.

War Diaries - Year 6

Saddam's been hung, Al-Qaeda's disappeared,
and I'm on the last mission of my final tour here.
Some days I have to fight back tears for all my fallen comrades.
All the sectarian violence has soften the bones in our backs;
Bush needs to get us out of here fast.
I miss my family, 3 years have passed since I saw the eyes of my child last.
She tells me she loves me over the phone,
and it breaks my heart that I can't be home.
This war has become something I can't condone.
I feel like we're here all alone.
Against all odds, Bush flaunts his power as we're adorned
with blood splattered all over our camouflage uniforms.
I've lost the mentality of the norm,
and I'm finding it hard to move on.
If you are reading this, please tell my family it's time to mourn.
Our humvee was hit by an IED.
I had not time to react;
my life was taken instantly.
No one survived the brutality.
I request my war diaries by handed to my baby.
My precious 3 year old young lady
with whom I shared only a few memories.
I send love and kisses from beyond to my wife and family.
It's time to bring back our troops.
See, no one should suffer the tragedies of my war diaries.

Wow! Awesome! It shows exactly what has been going on over the years. You're absolutely right; we need to bring home our troops. People have different opinions as to why we're still there. A mission w/o a motive... that's what I think.

You totally get reps from me.