The Story Of A Paratrooper Poem by Matthew Danley

Off we go, into the night,
By air we go, to join the fight.
We board the airplane, preparing to fly,
With canvas trailing above, we fall from the sky.

No one has seen us, how lucky we are!
Others are not, flak is bursting afar.
We hit the ground, cut ourselves free,
We prepare for battle, guns at the ready.

We must move fast, though no Germans are in sight,
The dropp zone was missed, it’s a two mile hike.

I dropp to the ground as I hear a gun chatter,
Horror strikes me as I see a man, shattered
From the bullets, a sickening sight.
I search for the gunner, and prepare to fight.
I see him before me, and raise my rifle,
With the coldness of a veteran, I take his life.

But a veteran I am not, and the coldness is gone.
I had looked forward to this day, to shooting my first shot,
Now that it has come, I wish it had not.

When we reach our target, it is already taken,
A good thing for me, as I am still shaken.
I seek out a chaplain, and confess my worries.
He consoles me by saying I am free from God’s fury,
To kill for your country is not a sin.
Now I’m on another mission, and I kill again.
Yet this time it’s different, I can deal with it now.
I am worried no longer, I am burdenless now.