Thoughts From The Field

It’s crazy to think about how good we had it.

It’s crazy to think about how good we had it.

Before the long days and nights in the dark.

Before the rain and cold chilled your bones

And numbed your feet.

Before the thoughts of your mortality

Became ever present in your mind.

Before the Army equipment dug

Into your skull and broke your back.

Before the parachute death drops.

It’s crazy to think about how good we had it.

When you sat upon the banks of the Rhine,

Or along Venice canals,

Or the coasts of Spain or Italy,

Or the day you stood on the Cliffs of Mohr,

Or the days you sat in your hammock in Finland’s forests.

Or the day you moved into your cozy German apartment,

Or the college days full of dreamy ambition

And empty of the worries

Brought on by age, responsibility, the state of the world, and your career.

It’s crazy to think that you thought none of that was enough

And that you had to prove yourself.

It’s crazy to think about how good we had it.

-The Poet of Windy Blue

11.20.2022

I wrote this poem while in the midst of a culminating Army training exercise for an arduous pipeline that I was in at the time. The nights were long and cold that November, with temperatures dropping below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. For North Carolina, this is quite cold. In the end we all made it through and endured it, but not without some self-doubt and without wondering why so many of us choose and love this profession of soldiering. It can be hard, but in some weird way, that’s the best part. Now, as I am about to enter another difficult course, I look back on this time and use it as fuel for resiliency. I (we) can do hard things. Especially if we draw from the strength of those around us.