Can Metal Hands Itch?

Joshua Harrison

Walking alone,
In a field black with crows.
Corpses carpet the ground,
But then the ground arose.
Souls I sent down,
Filled hell to the brim.
So the earthy seal burst,
And hell claimed my limb.
Shredded to pieces,
Eyes faded to grey.
Is it still my body,
If it’s three feet away?
Gasping for air,
Like it can fill the hole.
The IV drips,
While pain starts to roll.
I clench my fists,
My arms I heft.
But only the right;
The only one that’s left.
I’m half a human,
Five fingers, five toes.
Two limbs and a soul,
Lost to the crows.
The water runs down,
Dripping off steel.
I traded my flesh,
For one that can’t feel.
Four years have passed,
Since God left me,
Taking my life,
Leaving PTSD.
I paid your settlement,
I paid by force.
I paid the settlement,
For me and God’s divorce.
I fought for these people,
How dare I survive.
It’s hard to be human,
When your limbs aren’t alive.
I wipe my tears on a steel fist,
Vailed in rain and a street lamp’s mist,
The anger builds and the voices scream,
A veteran trapped in a tungsten dream,
They gave me a gun and told me to raid,
But my arm is the steel from which their guns were made,
They told me to run, march and join the parade,
But my leg is the carbon as black as the shade,
They trained me and taught me and told me to kill,
They made me machine so be machine I will,
The neck is snapped by an automaton’s grip,
And slowly the world begins to tip,
Amongst the puddles the body is grim,
Blood runs off of a waterproof limb.

  • Author: Joshua Harrison (Offline Offline)
  • Published: February 24th, 2018 07:29
  • Comment from author about the poem: The story of this poem is a reflection of the current attitude towards veterans in a world where violence is seen as much less of a point of pride than in history, it also tackles the identity of what makes someone human. This poem is set in the future and describes the situation of a man who was in the army and lost his leg and arm to a landmine. He gets cast out of society after a prosthetic arm and leg are attatched and is rejected as are many veterans in modern day. The PTSD left in the soldier’s head drives him to extreme anger and hatred at his own body since he never asked to have his humanity taken away and these fears and emotions drive him to murder. Pretty dark but I hope you enjoy it!
  • Category: Short story
  • Views: 61
  • User favorite of this poem: Wayne hague.
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Comments1

  • Wayne hague

    Wow a powerful messege more people should see this and so true of today more and more soldiers our now being forgotten about and are not looked after properly after war so many homeless now thank you for sharing this poem



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