He escaped the invasion
And the imminent threat of harm
He locked all the doors and windows
And turned off all the alarms

Stepping out into the cold
His breath mixes with the night air
Sneaking to avoid attention
Beneath the cold winters glare

The one place he called his home
Was infiltrated and exposed
He flees to a place of safety
Far away and undisclosed

Too scared to know the dangers
He will face on the street alone
His frozen feet break ground for miles
Leading him to the unknown

His wife returns to darkness
Her home painted by fallen snow
The knots churn inside her stomach
Dread and panic starts to grow

Sirens ring in the distance
She can't enter there all alone
What if he finally rested
His pale skin, as cold as stone

All her calls switched to silent
The wall of noise, too much to bare
His phone smashed and then discarded
They could track him everywhere

She cannot wait no longer
The door creaking open to see
Her torch expels all the blackness
His phone is amongst the debris

He couldn't walk no longer
His bare feet bitten by the frost
Winter elements took their toll
He paid the ultimate cost

A chopper in the distance
A loud rasp fills the cold, cold air
The voices calling out to him
The police are everywhere

He wakes from winter slumber
His wife in a hospital chair
He calls her name so softly
I'm so sorry I wasn't there

By Darren Wall ©

they say home is a place,
but for me 'tis a taste.
they say it is where you grow,
but for me 'tis where you go.
they say that home is where you felt loved,
but that i knew not of.
they say that home is the memories of a childhood,
but i guess my memory's not so good.
they say that home is where you know every turn,
but that is the place that makes my heart churn.
they say that home is the place where your life came true,
but for me, home is with you.

I remember sitting in the garden of my therapists office, trying to feel the sun on my skin.
She asks me if I can feel the warmth and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to find it.

It took me 14 years to say those few words that changed everything.
When my lips formed the whispered sentences, my shaking body suddenly felt so very different, even though the same things I was talking about happened to the same body.

When you start telling the truth, even if you can't build up the courage to speak all of it, a few words are enough, it becomes reality.
It's been real all this time, but now that it's entered someone elses mind, you can't take it back.

And maybe that's what it takes. To start your healing.

Speak your truth, even if your voice is shaking.