Pillar of Salt

Raining fire, burning steel …
And now I see haunted

Images of headless
Bodies bathed in bloodstained

Sand of a mannequin
Head with a swollen face

And lifeless eyes looking
Back at an explosion,

A disfigured Humvee
Staggering down the road,

A charred and gaping door,
A torso hanging out –

The Mannequin

I am not a mannequin!
I am a pillar of salt!
I am the salt of the earth!
My heart is heavy with sand.

An earlier version of “Pillar of Salt” appeared in O-Dark-Thirty, March 11, 2013.

Bryan Blanchard

Bryan Blanchard is a native of Glens Falls, New York and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Army Reserve, 2006-2007). He holds a B.A. in English from the University of Albany and a B.A. in Criminal Justice from SUNY Pittsburgh. In 2013, his poem "Pillar of Salt" appeared in O-Dark-Thirty, the literary journal of the Veterans Writing Project. He lives in upstate New York, with his wife, also a vet, and youngest son. Sarah Blanchard is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Army Reserve, 2006-2007) and Operation Enduring Freedom (2013-2014). She holds a B.A. in Fine Arts and English from the University of Albany. She lives in upstate New York, with her husband, also a vet, and youngest son.