I'm posting Dire Straits' haunting song and video from 1985 in honor of the dead and the injured (physically as well as mentally) men and women.
Note: just yesterday, the 1000th US soldier was listed as having been killed in Afghanistan.
I wrote this poem in 2004:
THE VALKYRIE
In a desert far from America A bullet tears into young flesh Skin caressed by his lover back home He longs for her touch to take away the pain He tastes his own blood and closes his eyes
In a desert far from America Strong arms lifts a young body The smell of her hair reminds him of home She holds him gently in the saddle As they ride past the dead and the wounded
