Brazen Bull
by C. Schneider
There
are many times when my eyes go empty
And
I’ll find myself in the woods of Bosnia
Ducking
through the ancient trunks
As
the snaps of bullets clap past my ears
I
remember the splinters most vividly
The
sight of the bark as it split and shattered
The
sound of screams and eerie quiet between
The
smell of ash, the taste of iron, and the sight
Of
sanguine ink rolling over green leaves.
Heralded
the hero upon my return
A
statue raised in my honor
A
bronze likeness, my own brazen bull.
Some
nights I wish I’d never left
To
have my body burned reduced to dust
No
soul escapes war pure and pristine.
We
carry with us the soot of that horrid fight.
I
am left to my one recurring dream
Standing
in the forest of falling ashes
I
ask the dead if honor matters
The
silence is their answer.
Bio: C. Schneider is a
recent graduate from Indiana University holding a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He plans to obtain a master’s degree in psychiatry.