I, Sniper

Dust on the ledge, before me, magnified
Smell of gun oil in my nostrils and cramp in the calves
The boredom of the wait intensifies,
Stale air in my loft is full of must
With the failing light I’m grateful it is almost time to stand down.

Through the cross hair sprints a target
An ordinary, everyday, running target,
I know not who this target is,
I know not why it runs across my sights,
But because it is, where it is,
It becomes my enemy.

In a microcosm of time
the loud report alters things forever.
The buck of the rifle’s recoil,
The immediate sour stench of the shot washes back across my face.
The intoxication felt, in being the one who caresses the trigger.
The satisfaction felt in deservedly making the kill.

My target spirals in mid stride,
Contorts in agony
And collapses to the rough tarmac
To lie dishevelled, an insignificant, dishevelled item.

Checking the kill through the telescopic sight
I see the rough stubble of the chin,
The nicotine stain on the fingers,
I see the colour of the eyes are pale blue.
…I know well, it will breathe no more.

With descending twilight
I trudge from my tower perch
With the long sniper rifle slung across my weary shoulders
The crones in the street glare as I walk by
There is a loathing in their aged eyes, It is a tangible thing.
I know they have no knowledge of the target,
But they know, however, that there has been a killing made for the cause.

A cold beer would be nice.
God! how I hate these young punks with purple hair.


Marshalg
Gaza, Palestine/Mogadishu, Somalia/Kabul, Afghanistan/Tehran, Iran/Cairo, Egypt/Islamabad, Pakistan/Soweto, South Africa/Dier El Zour Province, Syria/Beirut, Lebanon/Baghdad, Iraq/Tripoli, Libya/Pristina, Kosovo/Grozny,Chechen Republic/Veracruz, Mexico/Guatemala City, Guatemala/Sao Paulo, Brazil/Moscow, Russia.
27 November 2012

Reviews

[AnonymousLad]

I usually feel that the ratio of poems to stories on this website is more than a little off, and that the genre of poetry has become diluted. Therefore I often avoid poems on WritersCafe like the plague. However your piece caught my attention and I have to say that it is very powerful and effective. It's all very well and good to have a message you are trying to get across, but you also have the skill to do so. I love this poem not just because of the details that add an extra layer of realism, but because of the passion it contains since you clearly care about what you are writing about.

[Marshal Gebbie]

Appreciate the depth of your comment Anonymous.

[Marshal Gebbie]

The reason I've submitted this, is because I'm outraged that this scenario is being enacted daily in vivid technicolour, worldwide, in all the places listed plus another thirty or forty locations, less well known.

This is planned,callous manipulation. It has blossomed into a growth industry
....and we, who are exposed to it every day on the media, have become inured.
Just another wannabe Schwarzennegar!