dmarx's Journal: Poem

Here's a poem I wrote:
Soldier's Requiem
By Daniel R. Marx

"It all returns to nothing, it all comes
tumbling down, tumbling down,
tumbling down"
Komm Susser Todd
"It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country"
Quintus Horatius Flaccus

Patrolling Baghdad
I see something in the corner of my eye
A grenade
It explodes
I fall
I see blood
Is it mine?
Yes.
Lifeblood leaking out of me
As water from a leaky bucket
My friend holds me in his arms
I look to the sky
I see my life flash
My father, my mother, my sister
A surge of pain travels through my body
It feels unbearable at first
Then it dulls
Everything starts to fade
The street, the city, the sky, the embrace of my friend
All turns to nothingness
A void creeps over me
Where is the sweetness and honor in this?
My final thought as I succumb to the void.