Children of Nineteen and Twenty

we were children of nineteen and twenty
unblooded in our innocence
as we walked through a minefield

following the track,
signs and skulls warning of danger on either side
when a sound from a poem
bullets smacking the belly out of the air
flew over our heads

we scattered, most hiding behind rocks
while i paused to look and listen
my friends called out are you ok
i searched for the shooters
and found them

and took cover behind the rocks
thinking how few we were
if i could not think our way out of this
our lives would be footnotes in the annals of this war

i heard
the harsh clacking of a Kalashnikov
the crackling like distant fireworks of an M-16
only two rifles firing
weapons practice on a deserted mountainside

i waited for the inevitable cigarette break
and charged down the hill screaming
followed by two nurses who i would have left behind
for their own safety

we lived
and smoked our cigarettes
and drank the last of our water