We were soldiers once,
With dynamite as teeth
And limbs.
The food pyramid was
A square biscuit shared
Between the two of us
And I could taste the gunpowder
Beneath your nails.
You cracked the cracker
(It almost resounded,
Reverberations of thunder.)

You rained inside
When I removed the pin
From the grenade.

Ponchos were pretty much useless
In such situations,
But you were always good at ducking bullets.

I sowed them for breakfast
And harvested no less for dinner.

We were soldiers once.
And then I thought
If freedom had a smell,
It would be like margarine.

You hated it more than napalm,
Margarine.

We use to rub it between our loins
To keep away abrasions
On long rides.

I loved how we slept back to back
To keep our heads out of the mud.

Life seems to have brought us
More surprises than war
Ever prepared us for.

Iohannes Silvaticus

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/we-were-soldiers-once/