The Walk

The Walk

By VeteranWithanEar

We saw each other like we always did,
Laughing in the middle of the madness,
Exchanging jokes between mission team rotations.
Brothers in that hot, sweaty sandbox,
Just trying to make it through.

And then the darkness came.

We had just gotten back for chow

We sat smoking and joking

taking our minds off it all

The *** we just endured

The *** you would soon face

Connelly walked back to the tents.
His face was cold
We didn’t need to hear a word.
We saw it in his eyes.
Something broke.
And in that moment,
Everything slowed.

It was only a hundred feet,
But it felt like miles.
The space between us and the truth
Stretched out in silence,
Our hearts dropped,
All of us waiting for the news we already knew.

He didn’t have to speak.
We could feel it.
You weren’t coming back to us.
And the world felt heavier.

It wasn’t the first time we lost one of us,

But this time it hit different.

This time, the laughter stopped.

And all we had left

Was the weight of knowing

You wouldn’t be coming back.