As I Woke Up

The sun pushed through the thin cotton curtain

Dreams of battle afresh in my head

I rubbed my eyes to wish them away

The visions of battle as I woke up

The chants rose high from the park bandstand 

For God and country we’d make a strong stand

Enlisted was I, the next morning I’d find

A shadow of doubting as I woke up

Two days training and uniforms pressed

Did we think the enemy soldiers would be so impressed

When I saluted a sergeant younger than I

My mind seem to open and I woke up

To realize the plight of most of my friends

Their families would never see them again

So I prayed beyond reason and crawled in my bunk

Hoping for an answer before I’d wake up

Sardines in a ship hull was our fresh platoon

We put on brave faces as we left the lagoon

Two days on the rolling sea before I found sleep

The stench of sickness wafted as I woke up

Abrupt on the foreign shore our captain called orders

To give it our all and push back the borders

The man beside me was quickly mowed down

I knew what “our all” meant and I woke up

I dove for the cover of my fellow soldiers

The dead who had dutifully followed their orders

They spared me the same fate and seemed to whisper

Remember my sacrifice when you wake up

So frightened that many of us soiled our britches

But with numbers we established the first line of ditches

Exhaustion forced my eyes closed that night

Inbound shells my alarm clock as I woke up

The mud layered on me like a second skin

The days of dead comrades started to blend

I wondered if I’d soon meet my end

I oft wish it would happen, then I’d wake up

Two years in the trenches before the war’s end

To come home and be happy would be to pretend

For I know the reality, political powers

Don’t give a rat’s buttocks if I wake up

Back at home I endeavor to keep to myself

Ashamed that I lived, of clean boots on the shelf

I struggle to make it through until night

Then I relive murderous battles until I wake up

Consider my words, a tale cautionary

Before you enlist, hear my voice tell you “Be wary.”

For you may suffer the fate of my brothers in arms

Or wish away nightmares when you wake up

By Royce Waxenfelter

9/15/21