A Loud Sigh...

A swollen brain
A hole in the chest
Missing pieces of the body
Watching people stare
Seeing people point
Hearing tortured souls cry out in pain

Am I a victim of a trauma?
Was I on the wrong end of the 5.56 or 7.62?
Was I in the wrong place when the bomb went off?

No.
No?
NO!

I am the scared little kid with a head full of battle plans and too many acronyms.
I am the caring soul that gets the love slowly drilled out of them one "High-speed" at a time.
I am the soldier that is drawn and quartered, pulled in a thousand directions all at the same time.
I am the chosen few that attends the "Final Call" for a fallen friend.
I am watching down the rotating sights at the angry shouts of the people we came to help. "We come in peace...BOOM!"
Screams...shrieks...pained moans...

I am the lonely, counting down the days until normalcy:

365, 364, 363, 362, 361...135, 134, 133, 132...71, 70, 69...115, 114, 113, 112...

Starting over yet again.

A swollen brain
A hole in the chest
Missing pieces...