The Sacker of Cities

By Daniel J. Davis

PROMPT—Peace ...

My sweet Penelope waited for me

That's more than some men can say

She waited while I took my time coming home

I am still finding my way

Because—even now—I'm not here in my bed

With my wife's arms cradling me

I'm walking with Heroes through blood-spattered Troy

In a land over wine-darkened seas

The city stood proud, defiant against us

That's why they decreed it must fall

But infantrymen think in simpler terms

For us it was payback, that's all

Noble Achilles, the best one among us,

Had died in an IED blast

The heel of his boot hit the trigger device

He died hard, but at least he died fast

When the New Dawn had come, they gave us a speech

About freedom, about liberation

But all we could think of was blood for blood,

Who cares about building a nation?

So we massed to the north, and we waited all night

As the big guns dropped Death from the sky

Then we pushed to the south, through a breach in the wall

Through the fight, we knew Death was close by

I can still smell the smoke rising over the walls

As the burnt ashes coated my lungs

I can still hear the gunshots, the cries, and the moans

As the defenders died off, one by one

And I've lived longer now, than I ever thought then

And it's been such a beautiful life

But I've never felt quite as alive as the times

When I lived on the edge of a knife

So I lay here in bed, and I hold my wife closer

I pray that the gods will have pity

Though I lived to be Nobody, safe and at home

I miss being the Sacker of Cities

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Daniel J. Davis is a veteran of both the US Marine Corps and the US Army. He served three tours in Iraq. He is currently working on a memoir about his wartime experiences. Daniel writes from Winston-Salem, NC.