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IED

They blew off your legs
and genitals

with a quiet click.
You came undone.

Blood everywhere.
Your right arm, gone,

flailing
in a crater of your own

creation. Dying
you bled into the sand

behind an empty mud hut.
The medic, a kid

your age, maybe
younger, saved you –

my first ever
injury.

In shock, I don’t
remember you,

tying off the meat
of your legs, arms,

pumping you full
of coagulant.

My muscles acted
from memory. All

I know is the black boot
heavy in my hand,

your boot, and the
completely cloudless

blue sky, endlessly
perfect.

Posted 11/28/11
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