maybe you cried out my name
or maybe you just cried

maybe there were flowers 'round your head
when you died

perhaps a garland of white lilies
floated there
above your face

i wouldn't know

i wasn't there to see them...

all i have
is this black mark
just a spot upon a map

as in our hole
the boys and me sit shivering
shivering

passing 'round a dirty cigarette
to pass the time

(it burns down slowly
 up in smoke
  like all our tattered faith
   and trust
   and hope)

some hang their heads and murmur
songs the colonel taught them
some hang their ruddy faces
on their rusty bayonets

and still i can't forget
the last words that we ever said
"I'll love you...
 that's forever...
"there is no need for regret"

now my muscles ache and whine
as silver missiles glistening
trace rainbows in the morning sky
above our disheveled heads

and i can't but think that somewhere
there must be a place to wander
free from all this wretched victory
somewhere children lie in beds
their dreams untainted
unstained by this responsibility
to carry on and on and on

and on forever

you're sleeping now
i know you are
and i promise i'll return
to wake you with sweet kisses
that will not burn with sulfur
taste of blood
taste of war
of ever-more
or wreak of ever-after

we'll share laughter
and smiles
and all the little things
the things that matter most to us

i swear i'll make it so...

but for now the stony generals
say it's time to go

the generals say it's time for us to go...

know i love you...

(boom)

 

viewzone || poetry || comments or submissions? || Rate: