Eliza Mood

Eliza Mood is a new poet and novelist. She has recently published poetry in 'Equinox', 'Coffee House Poetry', 'Envoi' and 'Orbis' and will be published in an upcoming issue of 'Iota'. Her first novel 'Giving up Architecture' was published by Seaglass in May 2006. She is currently enjoying the poetry of Helen Clare and George Szirtes.

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Accidental Soldier

only to find yourself swaying above a river
where monsoon water defies mapping,
........limbless,
crusted boots cradling raw feet,
wild pig blundering through another's war,

then, in a shot's crack, bolted back to
the steppey-stones after the thaw, when,
........straddled,
a surge of brown tea-water
would paralyse you,

knowing in a split second that,
the gun always already cocked, there was
........no way back
to the far bank to cram sallow gooseberries,
intimately furry globes, into your bloody mouth?

It seems the dice rattled in another's fist
when your ship slipped away leaving you islanded,
........unberthed;
Whichever sails first, you once told your mother
as you ran headlong into history.

© 2006 Eliza Mood

Accidental Soldier first appeared in 'Envoi', June 2006 issue, no. 144