department of veteran's affairs

i'm real now
i never was before, not really
i had the appearance of humanity
but lacked the capacity of heart to fully feel
to honestly see

i couldn't bear it
the thought of so much pain prompted me to run
caused me to hide

the unexpected result - i was less than human
but still more than ape
some sort of evolutionary misfit
neither hear nor their

before, life diminished me
i'd shrunken to minimize the target surface
hoping to be ignored when those cosmic batteries of artillery
identified ideal targets

but that hunkered down existence
left so much to be desired
so much of life happens
outside the foxhole

so i found you, a kindred soul in a nearby divot
we both were shell-shocked from a recent barrage of heartache
face down, covered in the muck of life
saturated with the dust of love-wars

the scars of past skirmishes, the memories of old engagements
the fears remaining in the war-fog from recent battles

we were surrounded by demolished plans
previously developed with such care
they are now abandoned like burned-out tanks

heavy armor is no match for the guerrilla tactics of a determined foe

life will either open you up
or
crush you into silence

the middle ground is no-man's land
a DMZ that both sides
fear to tread

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