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Sean Kassab Jul 2012
I wield this pen like an extension of my arm
The scalpel I use to carve your memory from my past
Erasing our history with the deft strokes
Of crossed T’s and dotted I’s
That makes you fade from my literature

But the bad taste of blood still lingers on my lips
From the cuts of every sharp word we spoke
Regurgitated like spears
Hurled at each other’s hearts
Leaving our throats raw and silent in their passing

While you stabbed me with a daggered glare
From glacial orbs that watched
As I swallowed my own sword
By dipping the quill in the ink well
And setting fire to your enemy encampments

When we two enemies had burned to the ground
The smoke and ash that remained
Was blown away like the sands of time
Until nothing remained but the scalpel
Gripped firmly in the bones of the hand
Sean Kassab Jul 2012
I was feeling a little lost so I started looking for myself, I checked under all the couch cushions and behind the books high on the shelf. I even checked the laundry and behind the draperies, but I came up empty handed, it seemed it wasn’t meant to be.

I couldn’t be found anywhere, at least anywhere that I could see, but I knew that I would soon find out, I had too eventually. When my persistence paid off, then just maybe, if I kept looking there I would surely be, I had to be around somewhere, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t remember what I had really done with me.

I retraced all my steps so I could try to see, if I could find a clue or catch a glimpse of me. At least a little something, so I could have some peace of mind, but I didn’t give up looking, because I knew that in my mind, I had to pop up somewhere, I would, it was just a matter of time.

I knew it was important too, the me that I had lost, I knew that it was something that to me was beyond cost. So I scoured the whole house, from top to bottom, looking for what was mine, and wouldn’t you know it…of all the places…I was right here the whole time.
Sean Kassab Jul 2012
Around my yard there is a fence, where all the pretty birds have come, and since, it has become my favorite view. So if I may, I’ll share it with you. Upon this fence the blue jays play, when the sun is shining or the skies turn grey, and the nightingale sings by the light of the moon, the passerine bird that flies away too soon. The cardinals however, bright red and gay, like the well-lit places where the sun shares its rays, and I put out some feeders because my friends are big eaters, but I work all day to keep the squirrels at bay. Sometimes however, I let them have a bite or two, they’re giddy and playful and they need food too. But after a while I have to tell them to shoo, because these thieves have the greed to steal up all of my seeds. If they succeed there won’t be food for the finch, when he comes to light upon my fence and he’ll chirp and chirp for a little while but he won’t stay there if I have nothing to share. The humming birds zip by with lightning speed, and the best part about them is they don’t eat seeds, so I set out a little nectar, made of sugar and water, something the other birds won’t really bother. Then I sit and watch them from my chair in the shade, and try not to move because they’re easily afraid, but every day they still come to my yard, so I’ll share it with you when your life seems too hard. It might not seem like much, I have to say, but this little bit of joy can go a long long way.
Sean Kassab Jul 2012
Adam was still a small boy when he awoke suddenly to a faint but unfamiliar sound, feeling a little shaken from another night of bad dreams. He had been having the dreams for months now and he was becoming more and more accustomed to them with each passing night. He no longer woke up screaming or crying and the fear had now become merely an uneasy feeling for him. They were something his father, too absorbed in his studies, had simply passed off as nightmares. But the visions were constant and they were always the same, always.
        The visions were of a strange world engulfed in war on a massive scale, skies ablaze with fire, smoke and choking clouds of ash. It was a raging conflict fought for reasons he did not understand, between people whose faces he could not see through the bright light that seemed to emanate from their skin. Their dark metallic armor was gilded in places with unrecognizable markings. Some sort of writing that glowed brightly in the light as if it were red hot and glistened in a deep wet crimson in the shadows leaving it looking like rivulets of blood. Their gauntleted hands were slender and graceful looking, but held terrifying weapons like none he had ever seen. They were vicious in design and locked in a fatal dance of brutality between wielder and defender. The wickedly curved blades and spiked mauls rising and falling in a horrific and destructive rhythm of clashing steel against steel followed by the almost musical battle cries and screams.  
        It all should have been too much for a small boy of his age but he saw these things so clearly, as if he some how belonged to this place and to these people. They were so terrible, they were merciless in their savagery, but they were so incredibly beautiful.

        Adam rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes and sat up in his bed, peering about through the darkness of the room. The waning moon shining through the tree limbs outside his window created an uninviting landscape of twisted black illusions and pale light. It was an effect that gave his scattered toys an eerie and surreal appearance in the pre-dawn hours. The soft glow of lamp light shining from the gap under his door was comforting though. It meant that his father was probably in the study again working late, something that wasn’t at all unusual. Maybe that’s where the noises had come from, the ones that had awakened him from his dream before it could finish. Before those gauntleted hands were reaching for him, pulling at him again.
        Adam wanted to be where that light was coming from, to be where his father was. He wanted to hear his father’s gruff voice say that it was only a bad dream and everything would be ok before being sent back to bed again. If he was lucky, he might even get some milk and cookies out of the deal, which was all the motivation he needed. He hopped out of bed and slowly opened his door so the old hinges wouldn’t betray him and started walking silently down the long hall towards his father’s study, still dragging his chocolate colored teddy bear behind him. His small bare feet padded swiftly across the hardwood floors toward the lighted door way, turning the corner to find that his world had been changed forever.
This is part of the prologue to the book I'm working on. It's a fiction piece, but I won't say more than that now, I don't want to spoil it. You guys all have talent as writers so I need feedback and thoughts please. :)
Sean Kassab Jul 2012
I found myself looking in the mirror again,
I wanted so much to admire who I saw there
So I started looking for reasons to

I knew I had to be honest with him
He was looking right at me after all
So I had to be fair in my comparisons
Of good and bad things that made up my life

I counted them off, the good and the bad
I have to admit I wasn’t pleased with the results
I guess it could have been worse though

I made the resolution then
To do more good things in my life
Change, after all
Doesn’t have to be a slow, painful process
All it takes is the initial decision
And a little courage…
A thing not easy to come by

But possible

I promised to come back to that mirror
After some time
And check with that guy again
Hoping my results would be a little bit better
When I checked within myself
And looked at who I had become

And I kept finding myself thinking
Have you looked in the mirror lately?
I mean really looked?  
Did you admire who you saw there?
Because it’s never too late
To change…
Sean Kassab Jul 2012
Incoming rockets
Falling
Down
            Down
                        Down
To the US Army Barracks
Where they
Pound
            Pound
                        Pound
And the people scared and screaming
From the
Sound
            Sound
                        Sound
Of the
BOOM!
                 BOOM!
                                  BOOM!
Are running
Round
            Round
                        Round
Some people started yelling
HIT THE
GOUND!
                    GROUND!
                                          GROUND!
But for some it was too late
They looked like
Cheap
            Ground
                          Round
We answered in like kind
And bombed the
Town
            Town
                       Town
Until the smoke had cleared
And bodies could be
Found
            Found
                        Found
When the fight was over
They gave the
All
            Clear
                         Sound
So we all went back to bed
So we could
Lay
         Back
                   Down
This is an attempt at trying something new, not sure what yet. I do that from time to time so don’t beat me up too badly. It is a poem written about an actual artillery strike that happened at Taji AB in early 2011. We received 54 rounds of 107mm rockets and 80mm mortars in 30 minutes directly to the living area across from the medevac helipad. Our paladins (155mm artillery units) returned fire until the barrage stopped and after the accountability and casualty reports were done there was nothing for us to do but go back to bed. Another scar, another day in the life…
Sean Kassab Jul 2012
Three little words that mean so much...*"Let's Order Pizza"
Don't blame me, the devil made me do it lol
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