Poem Title- We Slept With Our Boots On
By Steve Carlsen
They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell
Based on this poem, I feel that the main conflict is in the feelings of the author of the poem, in the point of view of a solider who is fighting a war in the Hindu Kush mountain range. This poem is very detailed in expressing the feelings of a soldier fighting a war through meaningful words and phrases, and of course literary devices such as rhyme, in the form of a poem. The first line, "They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes", showed how cruel war can be and what are the consequences of it, just like how the people had to unload the dead victims. The second line shows how strong the war solider have to be not only just in terms of physical strength and military intelligence but also in terms of emotional strength, having to fight back their emotions, ignoring the deaths of the war victims, and carry on fighting the war. The third and fourth line shows how dangerous war can be, with well-prepared war soldiers flying in uncertainty. The fifth to tenth line shows how fast-paced war is, soldiers not able afford any time wasted while exiting the helicopter on the hostile-crowded Landing Zone (LZ), the ninth, tenth and eleventh line shows how scary and terrifying war can be for the soldiers, as well-trained and prepared soldiers can still feel terrified even with all the preparation and equipment they have, "heart pumping adrenaline through all of my veins", the fact that the author has adrenaline shows that he already feels nervous, fighting in a real war like never before. The twelfth line shows how dangerous war is, as from the word "divine", we can see that the author feels very fortunate to have survived it. The thirteenth and fourteenth line showed how clear-minded soldiers have to be when fighting a war, following only one order at a time, sticking to it and not getting distracted by any other thought, and "do what you have to do". Lines fifteen and sixteen show how thorough soldiers have to be when conducting their operations, not missing out anything, and how far their range or searches can go up to. Line eighteen show how tiring war is, and how a normal soldier would feel like after fighting in a war for some time, "dirty, tired, hungry and scared". Line seventeen shows the immense fighting spirit of the soldiers. This line is obviously very important to the author of the poem as he uses it as the title. The line is also a form of moral and mental support, the soldiers reminding themselves that they are prepared and have nothing to fear. Lines nineteen to twenty-one described the structure of their battlefield, describing to be “so high they kiss the skies”, and describing it as hell, as in “hell was so close to god”, “god” referring to the sky, or rather, heaven. Lines twenty-two and twenty-three are purely metaphors, the author symbolizing beauty and terror as a “strong mixed drink”, and them fighting it by “ drinking it drunkards”. The next three lines show how cruel war is, and whoever who has ever fought in a war would be deemed “bad”, “lose their innocence” and be “baptized in fire”. The final five lines show how brothers are “earned” and not “born”, through war, which the author views as “hell”. As a wise man once said, “Whoever truly wants to go to war, has never truly been there before!”
Some back ground information about the author, Steve Carlsen: Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He Deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan College wher his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences, which led him to write four war poems, "Take Your Pills", "Thunder In The Valley", "Death Of A Hero" and of course, "We Slept With Our Boots On".
References: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html
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