A Soldier’s Rest

A mound of earth, far from home

my own paradise given-

A monument to a son in war-

sleep the sleep forever driven.

I hear the thunder as I fall

sense the mangled bones I cover-

Pain, that trickles like a waterfall

stem the tears that hover.

Black the cold surrounding me,

life that’s eager to let go-

memories of a face still haunting

in a place I used to know.

Battle over, battle won,

feet this field has left undone-

faced its beauty, displaced by war

a mangled mess,

walks through death’s door.

Years from now the grass will grow

hide the brutal fight that flowed-

beckon to a younger soul

the victory a war bestowed.

I ask for every footstep

that walks this well mown field

think kindly on this patch of grass;

a memory it will yield.

Ӝ