Brotherhood

Jessie sits in the trenches
A young boy shy of fourteen
Clutching his weapon to his chest

Not sure what to do 
Not even sure how to hold the thing

His brother Bo lies next to him 
With a bullet through his head
And Jessie tries not to look at him
For he knew he'd start to cry if he did
Bo was all he had
And now he's gone

A bomb lands a few hundred yards behind him
And debris flies, covering Jessie in dirt and something sticky and red
Jessie knew what the red was, but tried not to think about it
Instead, he focused on his prayers to God

A General crawls over to him and starts screaming orders
But Jessie can't hear him over the sound of war
And without any warning, one of the enemy jumps into the trench
Killing the General in one clean swipe
From his bayonet 

Jessie holds back nausea 
And fumbles with his gun
But with no avail

He reaches into his pocket
Just as the enemy stabs him through the chest with his bayonet

Despite the pain, Jessie smiles
And the enemy looks confused
Jessie holds up the grenade in his hand
Pin already pulled

"This ones for Bo." He says
The enemies eyes widen
Just as Jessie let go of the grenade

Jessie died with a smile on his face
His last thoughts only
Of seeing his brother in Heaven