Fleeting Life

I feel it pushing ever closer

The Presence of death

It is a cold chill up my spine

The hairs on my arm stand on end

I have a strong urge to run

Panic starts to fill me

My breathing speeds

My heart drums

I start to turn

I look around and see the ground leaving me

I am flying through the air

I catch sight of the sun and bask momentarily

This eases my mind

I see the ground now approaching

Hard pavement cold and colorless

I try to throw my arms out to catch myself

I hit but feel nothing

People all rush around me

Someone beats on my chest

Then all goes blank

Now I stand still watching this man on the ground

He is bleeding from his mouth

He seems to have stopped breathing

He knows no one around him

Before his eyes shut he looks at me

I see in his eyes love, hope, and a craving to survive

He has so much more to do

He has so much more to see

I walk up to him and get on one knee

I place my hand over his heart and tell him that I am here

The world becomes a blur

I slowly raise my head and find myself in a room of white

Help I scream but it comes out as nothing but a whisper

I feel something pressing my hand

I turn and see her and know it is all going to be okay

Spoiled Child to a Deployed Mother

Why did you go away into the distant danger, of unknown places? Where sand and rock stand, where trees once stood and rivers once ran. Why did you go away to the suffocating silence, of death and despair? Where you must strain to not feel pain, and be among so many that are likewise alone. Why did you go away from the love and longing, to the place where only memories remain? Where pictures can be carried and people thought of. But that’s all you can truly have, if its having anything at all. Why did you go away and leave us to question and guess in your absence whether not you’ll return at all. When you could be here to catch all your children when they trip and fall. I may be selfish, spoiled, and always asking for what is not mine, but what I want now is quick and safe return and for you to be perfectly fine.

Father

I push forward through the tears

Hoping that this will wash away all my fears

I see the sheet cover his face

This is the last time it will be seen upon this place

Fire brings life and consumes death

From ashes to ashes

I thought that I could master the terrifying truth

I will see him no longer

To be without a father this is my fear

To see him no longer I thought until I looked into a mirror

To hear him no longer I thought until I laughed

To feel his presence no longer I thought until a challenge presented itself

He helped to make me into the man I am today

I miss you dad it is the only thing I can bring myself to say