Tunnel Mouth

Dust in my teeth
Blood on my tongue
Sun gone nuclear - I never needed one
Wind above
Fire below
Tunnel mouth open - that's where I go
Never needed
Never needed
Trench line shaking - dirt rain, spine stiff
Shells hit close - mud jump, ears lift
Rocket Boy laughing from a gold-lit lift
Bi Bi barking orders like a counterfeit gift
Mr. Orange broke the world over petty pride
Now I'm here in a hole with my brothers who died
Sandbags sag, boots cold, gloves split
A kid next to me can't even find where he's hit
Tracer lines zigzag - red snakes in fog
Heartbeat steady like a metronome log
Bullets skip dirt - flick rocks on my cheek
Fear don't live here - haven't felt it all week
This ain't new
This ain't shock
It's just another tyrant using peons as stock
You fire your nukes, we duck in the dust
Tunnel mouth open - trust who we trust
Hold Tether tight - it's the only thing real
Young ones shaking, but I don't feel
Drop bodies quiet - no echo, no cries
Death ain't heavy when you met it ten times
Sightline locked, dirt breath, cold lungs
This is what I am when the war drum drums
Kid on my left - nineteen, fresh face
Eyes wide open like he never seen hate
Hands too shaky to reload clean
I tap his shoulder, "Breathe. Move mean."
Round cracks overhead - he drops low
I see the shooter - hundred meters through smoke
Exhale slow - one blink, one press
Head snaps back, body folds like rest
Two more pop up on the ridge-line crest
Tag both quick - chest, neck, chest
Young soldier looks at me like I raised the sky
I nod once - keep moving - no time to reply
War don't stop for a thank-you breath
And I don't celebrate preventing death
Hold Tether
Hold Tether
This is how it's been - this is how it'll be
Born for the kill - it's the ice in me
Next shot's long - two hundred out
Figure on a ridge-line breaking about
Silhouette sharp - helmet, pack, stance
I can't tell what side - no second glance
Finger on steel - breath cuts clean
Trigger breaks - vision stays mean
Body drops
Then smoke rolls in
Someone shouts, "That might've been our man!"
I just blink once - dirt in my eye
Doesn't matter much - in war you don't try
To sort saints from sinners when the shells fly
Who cares
Who lives
Who dies
Tyrants make sure it's always like this
War over insults they spit in a fit
You fire your nukes, we duck in the dust
Tunnel mouth open - trust who we trust
Hold Tether tight - it's the only thing real
Young ones shaking, but I don't feel
Drop bodies quiet - no echo, no cries
Death ain't heavy when you met it ten times
Sightline locked, dirt breath, cold lungs
I'm built for this moment when the war drum drums
This ain't courage
Ain't honor
Ain't pride
It's just something broken inside
That kills clean when tyrants lie