Shellshock

Tam MacFatridge as he was then,

Torn by the mine he was defusing;

At the Aid Tent door his arm fell off,

And a Medic stooped to retrieve it

And stood as though lugging a melon

That had burst in the sun.

There are those of us who are not tough

Despite all they told us. IfI cry

Now, no one seems to care, but before,

I would have been punished with a laugh.

I wish that underneath the green sky

Of this room, images of terror

Would come again: that the emerald door

I can't pass would let me out to sleep.