I prefer my combat
to be like the most famous shot
taken by the Vietnam War sniper
named Carlos Hathcock.

With over ninety confirmed kills
and probably hundreds more,
a bounty of $30,000
was placed on his head,
attracting enemy snipers.

One, known as “Cobra,”
attacked the firebase Hathcock was at.
Several men were killed
to draw out the legendary sniper,
which he knew
when he went out to face the threat.
On his belly he crawled
through the jungle brush,
keeping the sun behind him always
and never giving up his position,
eyes open and waiting
until he caught sunlight in a bush,
the kind that’s reflected off a sniper’ s scope
or a mirror set up to as a decoy.
Hathcock had no time to think about it.
He aimed. He shot.

His bullet hit the enemy’s scope, threading it perfectly through to the enemy’s eye, to his brain for an instant kill.

Such a shot
could only have happened
if the enemy
was looking directly at Hathcock.

That’s how I want to win my battles,
by understanding the situation,
gathering every advantage I can get
and waiting for the moment
to take that perfect shot,
when your attention
is solely on me
and there’s absolutely nothing
you can use to contest it.