'I swear // I see every round as it rips through his life'
'I swear' creates ambiguity- could suggest being sincere OR shocked
stanza break emphasises the breakdown of the soldier's emotional state as he killed the looter
'rips'- violent verb- brutality of the killing forcing the pain onto the reader
metaphor- implies his life is fragile & disposable - foreshadows ow the speaker's life will also be 'rip[ped]' apart; the bullet will easily destroy precious things
'Then he's carted off into the back of a lorry.'
implies human life is easily replaceable and now disposable
juxtaposes structurally to convey how impossible it is for the speaker to escape their past
colloquial tone to highlight the suffering in the situation by juxtaposing his formality with the brutal event
'His blood- shadow stays on the street'
noun 'blood' indicates the looter is truly dead, there is no returning or undoing this deed; this sin is forever engraved into his 'blood'
noun 'shadow' symbolises the looter's significance but also the consequences of PTSD are constantly with the speaker, following him like a 'shadow'
verb 'stays' denotates to something long- lasting, highlighting how this experience will haunt him forever (link back to PTSD)
the soldier is isolated because his grave is the street- lack of respect for the dead
