pull the stitch through

and sew the night wounds.
the best time for war

is while the enemy sleeps.
Wilfred Owen of Tikrit

breathes freely
(not a mustard gas insectoid

of trench warfare).
they are the nonchalant Knights

of the Kevlar Table.
Incubus sticker

on the side of his helmet.
residual radiation

doesn't feature in barracks conversation.
in the middle of November

he starts to wonder
if the reindeer

know the way to babylon.
some turkey turns up

celebrating the pilgrim's progress.
a constant jumbo jet tinnitus

and sleep dep hallucinations
keeps his patrol

as keen as rambo's knife,
but the worst news comes

on Christmas Eve
and the e-card

Pvt. Taylor sends his girlfriend
bounces back,

address blocked.