Nerve Gas

Clammy skin, sweat-beaded, I lie safely between
With red-lightning, cloudy eyes discern the seen
Movements out-of-control, I cannot exclaim them
Frequent my own city streets; still cannot name them
Crossfire in chain-links deprives me of height
Crosshairs meet, and Death enters my line of sight
Accustomed to these things; bed made in trenches
Dreams of conquest; I wake, life thin within inches
But whiff of this gas... everything is contrast, so confused
Witness fellow soldiers drop their defenses and refuse
No mind to surrender; on to oblivion, no conviction
Outnumbered by enemy; out-of-mind by contradiction
As I question sanity... surely so many can't be wrong!
Such forces exist independent of who goes along
Or against... As suddenly, like a toddler's embrace
From safe behind me, maliced projectiles give chase
I turn and, grazed in the face, my visage is wonder
Now surrounded by two storm fronts full of thunder
Yet, this mutiny is preferable, despite the impact
Pellets harmless, my armor so much harder than that
Disbelief... what cause do they forward with this?
Siding with me to sit? Opening their mouths to piss?
Enemies have the courage to declare their allegiance
You--- like your weaponry--- a mere grievance
But had I not spared time to address my own flock
Might have seen shells approaching from enemy stocks
Wounded, I lay surrounded by my honorable foes
"Only the gas made this possible, and everyone knows..."