The Train of Thought of An Enlisted, Circa 2002

On my deathbed I had nightmares and dreamscapes of you and that day in September

---and they tried to quell the blows and blows

---and the sound it made when you said the body count aloud

In this room, with crisp white sheets that once belonged to healthier days,

I rolled over on my side and looked out to a cloudless horizon,

---and I was jealous of you and the legs you had to walk from here to there

---and of how your sleep was surrounded with the foursquare

An accident used to be my worst enemy;

and I never imagined my demise would come from design

It was dark and ominous over here---

my movements [all of them] were irreparable

and I was too ashamed to tell you I was homesick

and although I believed in how the West was won,

this was all so very, very

East of Eden