Life on a Forward Operating Base

Hunkered down, pinned

sometimes for hours, getting shelled at night

by the enemy’s makeshift mortars, harassed

so that sleep never comes –

troops on an isolated forward operating base

west of Kandahar City joke about how they’re fine

as long as the smokes don’t run out.

They get rotated back through the airfield

every few weeks so the guys get a break,

but life still reads like a laundry list

– get hit, chopper out the wounded,

make it back to camp.

Same thing

month after month.

The comforts of home

slowly diminish,

mortars keep coming –

on the roof

someone writes

Send Smokes.