End or Beginning

For a moment my mind is numb
And in an instant I am brought back
To the smell of sweat and blood.
To the mud and filth surrounding me.
To the beat of my heart racing through my eardrums.
Then pain pricks my skin and
I am surged with a jolt of
Unquenchable thirst for relief.
Yet it does not come.
It will not come.
Soon, I accept the pain as my mind
Floats away in a sea of milky thought
Slowly the heavy beat in my
Ears dwindles to a slow thump.
And then there is nothing