I sit up suddenly in a blackened room
The cloying smell of decaying mud
the heavy humid air, still like a tomb
on my tongue the coppery taste of blood

My clothes-sopping wet from cold sweat
I look trying to see through the black
trying to locate the nature of the threat
my muscles coiled and ready to attack

I examine the room as my eyes adjust
I see the familiar surroundings of home
and the past horrors that I’d witnessed
Bursting forth from memory’s catacomb

My heart still wildly racing from the fear
It’s beating sounds like a mortar barrage
No threat is present I sense it’s all clear
But still wishing I had better camouflage

 Images of the past, still vivid and alive
Memories of so many people now dead
Trip wires I’d installed so I’d survive
Triggering the booby traps in my head