Tunnel Rats, a poem by Mary Rorro

A Poem by Mary Rorro

Tunnel Rats
I slithered down dank
tunnels of Cu Chi

my body small
mad muscles lean

The mission:
search and destroy

my 45’ll snuff out
Charlie’s boys

Not only guns and rifles
do I need to slip, but

the poisoned fangs
of Cong’s punji sticks

I turn the corner facing
jet eyes darting

back at me
Fear would be Chuck’s

fatal flaw
One breath’s wait cost him

my pistol’s first draw
A second VC was

prepared to click
his Soviet special sought

to fetch me with
its searing pitch, but I’ll

be damned if I’ll feel its
slam in this Devil’s Ditch

A bullet missed my
grime-painted face

in this crazed claustrophobic
space

But today was not
my day to die

I would live
for another dive

deep into war’s
dark divide