Bones steeped in storms
Feel them coming,
Past terrors remembered
In recesses of marrow.
There's no safety
Behind stone walls of homes, either;
Nor compassion for tears of children
Nor weary backs of old men
Who try to protect them.
Little ones hide fears in the cellar
Or deep in down pillows,
Drowning howling to low murmurs
While weary souls stare into eyes
Of the devil, bracing for battles
Never won, but survived
'Till sun shines once more,
Sweeping up pieces of life
As always, come morning,
When smiles and breakfast
Hide destruction
Of the night before.

settle, then, in serpentine
words once heard when
mixing roses and turpentine -
tales spun again in oils
flung on canvas sheets
always stretched too tight.
tonight a frail frame
might break
before colors make pictures.
It's only cheap pine
that holds it all together,
old bones with thin skin
you'd see through were
it not for the layers of
pigmented emulsions of
emotions trying to hide
the white, wordless,
grinning death waiting
underneath

They promised I would see the world
That I would be going places
To train me with all new skills
That the life of a soldier was for me

So I learnt to fight in Hell
Went to places I wanted to forget
I was shown *******
But you bond with best friends

Your best friend fights by your side
Helps you to get through another day
Is always there to share in a smile
You never want your best friend to go

But my best friend died today
Took a bullet that was meant for me
I cried for my best friend today
We were a long way from home

Will I ever see home again?
Be in the arms of the one I love?
Or am I destinied to die here?
Another soldier, so far from home

But if I was to bite the bullet this day
I know I did it, defending my country
Making sure the terror I see, never goes home
I am a soldier and please remember my name

Remember me, how I stood proud against the enemy
Remember me, last moment may be my last
Remember me, because this is what I must do
Remember us, we are all the brave hearts

It was here, he said
In my hand, not far from sleep
Too far the dream of ocean blue.

And she laughed,
As her hand swept the sand
Looking for jewels
Looking for recognition
Looking for the grain
Looking for proof.