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“Only They Know How”

by Thierry D. Hall They were trapped in wire cages like cocoons, that unforgotten highlight, beneath a yellow moon, slowly breaking each new hope between the repeating, pacing, footsteps of shadows darting, faces unseen. Though blinded by sandbag hoods in a HESCO fortress there was no hiding the truth in a war they were born with; they saw the end, praying for their lives in rhythms, in hymns. In their hands what was left was—these hours. The hourglass was life, flowing, gone grain by grain, one by bomb, Death as name. Casualties brothers, sisters, they called them all though no answer was ever heard beyond the HESCO wall, but I hear them all from a black site afterlife that lives next door, forever, to me now— how long will I hear their pleas in still moments? Do not ask Him to translate only the Dead know how. - - - Note: A HESCO barrier is a component of a rapidly deployable modular construction system manufactured by Hesco Bastion Ltd. Available if various sizes, it consists of a collapsible wire-mesh, cloth-lined basket that can be filled with local sand or gravel to provide ballistic protection.

 

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Thierry D. Hall is a Poet from Southern California, a war veteran, and engineer. Most of his time is spent sitting in a circle, in the heart of an Orange. Thierry’s work has featured in Instant Noodles and Outsider Literature.

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Who We Are

Military Experience and the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to work with veterans and their families to publish short stories, essays, poems, and artwork in our biannual publication, As You Were: The Military Review, periodic editions of Blue Nostalgia: The Journal of Post-Traumatic Growth and others. To the best of our ability, we pair each author or poet that submits work to us with a mentor to work one-on-one to polish their work or learn new skills and techniques.

Our staff is based all over the country and includes college professors, professional authors, veterans’ advocates, and clinicians. As such, most of our services are provided through email and online writing workshops.

All editing, consultations, and workshops are free of charge. Veterans and their families pay nothing for our services, and they never will.

Under our Publications tab, there are more than two dozen volumes of creative work crafted by veterans and their family members as well as a virtual art gallery. Our blog posts feature short pieces that cover a wide range of opinion editorials, literary reviews, and profiles on veteran artists and writers.

Please consider spending some time navigating our site and reading and seeing the fine work of veterans and their families from around the globe.

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