Deathstalker-Edit 1

[Leah S.]

(The Deathstalker scorpion, Leiurus Quinquestriatus, is yellow in color with a smooth five striped tail.  The adults are about 2 1/2 inches long.  They are one of the most deadly scorpions.  Their range includes North Africa and most of the Middle East.)


Nothing moves
in my spotting scope;
field of fire clear
two thousand yards.

Blue Afghan skies
watch Khyber's ancient pass
and empty hills.

Acrid wind stirs my ghille bush, Ghillie suit?
calescent air shimmers, Very hot out, then.
three hundred win mag Magnum or magazine?
cool against my cheek. Why is the round cool if it's so hot out? If it's the magazine you are talking about, why is either one touching your cheek?

Home's a smoky memory,
blurred by blood and terror.
Survival is all I ask.

A scorpion scuttles I would just say "deathstalker scorpion" here, and leave off the detailed explanation, or at least put it at the end.
across my shooting pad,
stinger poised,
hurrying to a hiding place.

Movement.
Insurgents debouch the defile.
Hunters hunting me. But you are hunting them.

Are you looking through the rifle scope or the spotting scope? Sorry, I'm confused.
I assumed after some consideration that you are going for the irony of the deathstalker scorpion scuttling for cover in trepidation, while the real deathstalker lies in ambush above him. I didn't get that as fast as I should have though.
I know it's hard to be terse and still convey meaning and emotion, but it's worth the effort. I got tangled up trying to visualize the scene because your terminology was very confusing. I think if you described things in more detail, it would be better, and readers familiar with sniper tactics would get it right away, and those not familiar would be placed more immediately into the scene. I would bring more description of your senses into it, since a sniper is intensely aware.