As the world is shaking beneath my feet like the rumbling crunch of a volcano, my eyes glaze over.
The fright of death is more crippling to me, and more a presence in my soul than my own beating heart.
Stuck frozen as if all the time of the Earth had stopped to watch for itself.
The bellowing cries of plea from my brothers, fallen to the ground.
The grip I have of reality is fast overwhelmed by the chaos of the dying.
My thoughts trembling in my mind as the very air around me purges sense from my bones.
I fall.
Upward looking to the dark greyness that’s become the mid day sky.
A sky alive with fire and smoke, and all manner of flying things.
Silence encompasses me for the first time in what seems like a lifetime.
I breathe, breathe as though every breath is a symphony requiring tireless thought.
My purposeful pause between each cycle, I listen to the drum of my heart bursting through my chest and ears.
I hear the dying. I hear the crying.
Taunting clatter and pounding overhead condemning us to the mud beneath.
Still and broken I lie.
I hear the dying. I hear the crying.
A wave of force ripples to my side nudging me, burning my body.
Scattered parts of wood and ash, bone and rock sprinkle awash down on my face.
Choking, my stomach flutters.
I hear the dying. I hear the crying.
My eyes open with questionable recognise.
My bedroom ceiling, calm and content.
My wife’s hand upon my chest, a question of soft remorse to my wellness.
My brothers, where are you?
I hear the dying. I hear the crying.

When goodness escapes the grasp of a pure and peaceful soul,
And the harsh wilderness of life is beyond ones control.
For who am I to look for, and who am I to trust in?
Good grace and higher will eludes me, leaving just within.
To seek council from my loved ones seems to end in pity,
Their support thought is second to none, with sincerity.
Looking beyond hopes short path, to pain cold like winter night,
How destructive a deception born from shock, born from blight.
An end where surely only badness and resent can be,
Why then did such a kind heart turn, such scorn hell-bent on me?
Be it my love or hate, compassion or just ignorance,
None are close to truth, for now settle with indifference.
But resolve became weak with time, and truth prevailed in kind,
So to put such soreness from memory, far from my mind.
Clouds with silver linings are sometimes the hardest to find,
But look hard and then look again, for your own peace of mind.

I live and play so peacefully,
In days colour and the light.
Yet this time soon brought to end,
As the sun retires, along comes the night.
Prickly thoughts of ghosts and demons,
Dancing with delight.
Each breath brings them closer,
I beg, nay pray for flight.
I feel the cold touch of darkness,
My eyes sorely useless, ohh God the fright.
Yet I hear the chanting and squalor,
These monsters fool my sight.
Each second takes an hour to pass,
They play my mind, the sleight.
I feel myself falling down,
From ever such a height.
The fear overwhelms me,
I struggle with all my might.
Yet suddenly Sun, day breaks
I have endured and won the fight.

Led by men of clothed tables,
A drink still warming their hands,
Soldiers' unburdened of choice,
March side-by-side in trance.
Met by the fire,
And pain of war.
Unflinching, unwavering,
They feel fear no more.
For seen before their eyes,
Shine memories of love.
As those whose memories share,
Pray from above.

I owe you my warmest kindness, every moment I live.
Undying adoration is understatement, and will always be.
You deserve the best of me, more than I can give.
Yet your wish is simple. You wish only, for me.

You sob for us as we leave. There is no comfort to be had here.
You look beyond the horizon of slowed time, to that distant return.
You watch as we, facing proudly ahead, march without fear.
You wait for news of safety and well-being, which you do so yearn.
You pray, as stars sprinkle beautiful glimmers. From nights sky so clear.
You see Soldiers, the brave, the strong. The firm.
But.
We sob for you as we leave. Comfort is short lived in goodbye.
We long for that distant return. Skirmished and torn by times cruel churn.
We walk swiftly, to fade away. Facing ahead, maybe you will miss our cry.
We tell you news as we see fit. Safety and well-being, that dream you earn.
We pray. Stars taunt as they shine, beauty and peace looking down from the sky.
We are the Soldiers. But you are the brave, you are the strong. You are the firm.

Put me on a star,
It's where I'd rather be.
It's somewhere far from here,
It's somewhere far from me.

Close the curtains to dull the Sun,
Drown all the noise until there’s none.
Unplug the phone and lock the door,
This world you can't face anymore.

Turn off the lights, light a candle,
Calm yourself; let thoughts assemble.
Though happiness has been captured,
There's someone to be remembered.

You were my laughter and my sorrow,
Taken from me, I'm left so hollow.
The days we had were just pure and true,
So filled with a love I always knew.

Time together was perfect but short,
Half of a whole; I’m so out of sort.
You were my drive and ultimate goal,
I've nothing left, just this looming hole.

I’ve always known it would come to this,
And you’d be the one I’d sorely miss.
Though now you’re not standing by my side,
I still have the days you were my bride.

Go now my dear and rest, for all of time,
Live in my dreams as the angel divine.
In the grace of heaven you now explore,
I’ll love you now, and forever more.

Against all better judgment than my own,
I'm going to try, even though I'm alone.
My kit is packed, my hands are steady,
Finally now, I feel so ready.

Aboard the plane I start to worry,
Perhaps I rushed, there is no hurry!
But remember my dream, I dreamt so well,
My face says it all, it's clear to tell.

Words of encouragement pass my mind,
As they weakly accept that adventurous bind.
You wont, you can't, you mustn't even try,
What if worst finds you, you may even die.

Calm your minds and accept the fact,
My life so far, excitement has lacked.
I need to do this, do this I must,
If not in me, in God please trust.

And so I stand here, step one to be stepped,
Aghast what's to become, inside I wept.
But climb I dreamt so climb I will,
After all, it's just another hill.

Months of work and breaking pain,
At last the mountain knows my name.
It just goes to show, no matter your health,
Though others mightn't, have faith in yourself.

Darkness touches everything as if it's a blanket laid down to cover the world.
Fog has thickened the air and made distant lights struggle to be seen.
Coldness heightens my senses as the quiet and crisp air freezes all in sight.
This walk has surely brought calmness and peace to my weary soul.
Great trees scarcely seen amidst the haze tower above and daunt me.
Eyes of the forest watch my every move as I humbly dare to pass.
Yet one light shines down with more overwhelming power than the noon Sun.
A full moon has brightened the dark and punches through the fog.
Oh how I wish I could reach that untouchable, unknowable peace of distance.
My mind wanders for just a moment, it takes me away far from this chaos.
Looking down to a blue marble of Earth, absolute silence heard for a first time.
Breath trembles and heart flickers as my love for the serene is realized.
Tears fill my eyes and I quiver at the thought, I will never know this calm.
Awake now and reality brushes my wish aside, yet this darkness reminds me.
To know peace I must see trouble, without light I won't adore the dark.
Perhaps the world's beauty is enough for me yet, and life's chaos will surely bring me peace.

At the bottom of our world, lies ice and snow,
A place so cold, that no bananas would grow.
Emperor penguins huddle, to beat the chill,
And for the whales food, there is only the krill.

It was first explored, in a time long ago,
But now we have found it, and so now we know.
It's against natures will, but humans live there,
We are not native, and big coats we must wear.

Some plants do grow, but are far and few between,
So only one percent, is the colour green.
Although these challenges, must be overcome,
This wintery world is indeed, home to some.

That is the story of the worlds Southern pole,
It's the milk left, at the bottom of the bowl.

Gazing above heads of my brothers standing in commemoration,
I watch as the sky becomes red, fluttering with poppy leaves.
Silence is deafening as memory escapes the deathly bounds,
There are men and women to be remembered this day of days.
Wind swept watery eyes cling stare into the daylight blackness,
Numb hearts and heavy breaths couple those solemn senses.
Pray. And pray again, for wounded heroes and the mortally lost,
Whose families torn comfort shall not repair to this great despair.
For they, they are deserving.

He comes anon a Summer Sun, to sprinkle trees with dust,
A crackling floor he must adore; he lines the fields with rust.

Leaves a falling are his calling as bareness becomes the trees;
Colour's lost - that is the cost, as he strips the branches with ease.

He's nature's prep for its first step to defeat Winters wrath of cold.
Land made ready, trees a steady; standing together, oh so bold.

To human eye a golden dye becomes the world we live in,
As he dines the beauty shines, brown hue now takes the win.

But time so sweet now must retreat, and put to rest this phantom,
As Winter nears and white appears, and the glow is lost from Autumn.