I Am the War

(Poetry) "I breathe out and the birds scatter, fly in tandem with the jets across the sky."

Photo of Bergan oil field fire (1991) [Edited]

I breathe in and 
the air is still;

my last drag hangs 
like a flag unfurled, 

peaks and valleys 
on the wind.

I breathe out and 
the birds scatter,

fly in tandem 
with the jets

across the sky,
my blood-hot 

cheeks as if it were 
summertime

though dry 
autumn leaves 

already mass 
beneath the trees.

How could I 
forget so easily?

I am the war.
The war is me.

My blood boils, 
my blood is oil.

It’s deafening, 
the suffering.

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