The Salient

The Salient

There it stood,
Jutting eastwards.
The salient.
Fat body
Narrow neck
Small, rounded head.

One side rose up,
Jutting outwards like a wing
Looking down
Upon the rest.
Thank God
We held it.

The stomach
Was the prize,
A battered,
defiant town.

The neck
Could only
Be travelled
At speed.
If it wasn't
The mortars
The snipers
Or tanks
Would get you.

And the head.
World's End.
The last place
On earth, truly.
One way in.
One way out.
A cellar for a home
A pallet for a bed
One way in.
One way out.

Yes. That
Was the Salient.