Libertas

Crawling through the dirt, grime.
Minutes that seem to never end.
Sweat turns to filth, to slim
As nerves twist and bend.
His objective becomes unclear
Through smoke fire and metal.
Kisses of death fly past their ears.
Scrambling for safety, a place to settle.

Rods of metal pop and stutter,
Clouds of fire flash and plume.
The wings of angels seem to flutter
Lives, cut short, in bloom.
Breathing in short, painful spurts.
Thunder shakes their bones.
The ground leaps in fountains of dirt.
Fire hurled in the shape of stones.

Suddenly hell’s banshees cry
And fall like Zeus’s thunder.
Fire falls from the sky
Spilling their ruinous plunder.
Bodies torn and thrown about
A horrible sight indeed
They all have copper in their mouths
And death kiss packages at their feet.

Gagging on the morbid air
Only the dead lie still.
Godless men pray their final prayer
Cries of agony shrill.
Rising up on bruised feet they run
Into darkness, into night.
Putrid air fills their lungs
But through it all they fight.

Brothers run side by side
Serving with every breath
They join him for one final ride
With pride the ride towards death
Suddenly, above the ground,
With wings of iron, steel
Glorious birds swing down
Punishment, they deal.

Tattooed on their wings,
a white star.
“FOR FREEDOM” it sings,
“FOR FREE WE ARE!”
The enemy flees
Crying out in pain
Like a vagrant breeze
Never to be felt again.

So “FOR FREEDOM” we cry
With tears and laughs.
To respect those who’ve died
On our behalf.

Stone Faces

They stalk the cities
Stone faced
Iron hearted
Hot, crusted earth crunches
Like snow
Natives watch
Dustcovered doorways
Streets strewn with metal carcasses
Daisies chained under rubble
Wait for these boys
For mahogany cots
A sorrowful homecoming
Women hide behind curtains
Skittering along sidewalks
Brown brows visible
They carry steel at their sides
Fear in their chest
Flags on their backs
Thunderous boots and godlike cries
Bursting into homes
Imaginary signs read
“Innies inside”

Repone

Replace my mind,
Fill it with the calming waters of the Ganges.
Filth filled holy waters
Ironically demeaning purity.
Let it flow through my limbs
Licking the walls of the sepulcher
that holds my heart,
washing the crimson from my veins.

Replace my heart, that heart
With the Taiko drum.
Stretch the Kawa across my ribcage,
Thumping, vibrating, causing my chest to shiver.
The cracks of missed strikes
Thunder within this cage.
My steps to fall in rhythm.
Driving my body forward.

Replace my hands
Those with which I write
With the sad boughs of the willow.
Those silently weeping chutes.
Feel them gently caress your face.
Leaved feathers, feathered leaves.
Their sleepy life slipping,
Whipping to tame the beast.

Replace my eyes, above all.
The instrument of man’s demise
Remove the stones that fill my skull.
Stones, solid to the silky seas of the world.
Place sponges in their stead.
Let the waters of my Ganges fill them
And sit, visible to others.
Let the seas of human understanding,
Amorphous and living,
Fill my now porous vision,
For I want to believe,
Believe that humanity isn’t doomed.
Replace my flaws.
The shortcomings that make me.
Replace those things that rule my life
And threaten now to break me.

Nothing Works

Nothing works

I try with lacerated hands.

I think with a concussed mind.

Deaf ear turn blind eyes.

Cold shoulders

Nothing works

All efforts a resounding failure

I bleed through blackened eyes

As I cry my soul through my face

Salt and copper

Nothing…

I give up with all that I am.

Succumbing to sorrow, silently.

No one can help me.

My life has lost its worth.

Nothing…

I find comfort in ashes.

Breathing in death, dumbing the dirge.

My mind, a bowl of mangled spaghetti.

Tangled in a heap

Nothing…Works

Why do I try?

Perhaps things would sort themselves out

If I simply said goodbye.