Penny Rock

FATIGUE

Fatigue is a state of body.
It’s been a month of the never-ending parade of bodies.
Some alive, some just barely, some with the vacant
eyes of death. You’ve never been so tired
and your body rebels against what it is called upon to do.
You yearn for hours and hours of dreamless sleep.
Your body sags with the heaviness of fatigue.

Fatigue is a state of mind.
It’s been two months of the parade of bodies.
You marvel at the body’s resilience. You wonder if
the people inside them have the same strength.
You reel at the impossible injuries inflicted in war.
You couldn’t dream up these sights.
But, you do… in your nightmares.
Your mind begins to numb to protect you
from what you can’t bear.
Your mind sags with the heaviness of fatigue.

Fatigue is a state of spirit.
It’s been three months of the parade of bodies.
You know now it will never end.
Sometimes you wonder if it’s the same people
over and over. It seems impossible
there could be so many different ones.
But, then you know the answer.
There is an eternal supply of bodies.
Your spirit sags with the heaviness of fatigue.

Fatigue is a kind of uniform.
Its drab colors of earth are meant to let you blend
into your surroundings. It’s called protective cover.
But it doesn’t protect you from dying.
It’s been four months of the parade of bodies and
they have indeed blended into their surroundings…
some permanently.
The red of blood, green of bile, yellow of pus, and
pasty white and gray of dying flesh.
All these glorious colors blend with the earth.
They leave part or all of themselves behind.
The uniform of fatigue, the protective cover,
has captured your body, your mind, and your spirit.
And now you sag with the heaviness of death.