Earth

Turf, lead, and fire
Ripping through their world
Snatching the light
Thieving their hope
Shredding their souls.
Cannons boom like hearts
Rockets soar with the carnage
Metal flies on Death’s own wings,
Loss never knew such thirst. 

Trenches etched like veins in the European hills
Coursing with men and blood.
Their Earth is their only defense
Shielding them as best She can from the flames
That torch and erode their very existence,
But She can not shut their eyes,
She can not cover their ears.
Though some may not be stolen by Death,
They are marked by His glance
Scarred deeper than light can reach

When the cannons shudder and fall silent
And Death dies on his very field,
They crawl from the mud
Leaving the dead to rot in their foxholes.
The living exist in a state of hollowness
Empty as their spent shell casings.
An entire generation annihilated
The few that were not shot, massacred, and destroyed
Are thrown into the howling winds of the peace time world.
The war began, and so did their end
The war ended, and they were lost.
Their home on Earth had become the trenches
And that is where She desired them to stay:
Soldiers in the mud. Victims in the Earth.

Ode to a Rose Bush

Buddings spring from leafy branches
Petals explode into clouds of maroon
Due drops cling to your stem of thorns
Eager for the taste of my blood 

Winds howl and torrential rain
Rake and claw your petals
Tearing and dashing them into the air
Jealous thieves of your secular beauty 

Freezing snows and blazing skies
Harass you all the year long
Despite your mounting strife
You grow tall and do not whither before the storm 

Your relief comes accompanied by spring
Flourishing and flowering you sing me your song
Petals to offend the soft rolling skies
Thorns that thirst for the taste of my blood

Deep Scars and Dark Holes

When you’re surrounded, outnumbered, out of luck
When you’re full of deep scars and dark holes
And when you have no more nerve and you’re out of pluck
Stay put; don’t leave your fox hole 

When the sky is crumbling around your ears
When you’re staring into Death’s cold chalky face
And when you’re swallowed whole by your darkest fears
Don’t even think about slowing your pace 

When the stress is crushing your bones against the stones
When you’re so close yet so far away
And when your last ounce of strength has been chucked out and blown
You have to realize that this is the only way 

When the alternative is not the farthest from your mind
When unrelenting pain washes over you like a flood
And when you’re held down by His constricting bind
Don’t drown your own sorrows in blood 

When you’re deserted and abandoned in a barren waste
When your last living ally has flown
And when you’re lost and without a home or a place
Remember that you never stand alone

CLoud 9

Floating on the ninth cloud
Far distant from any city sound
Untouched by corrupted lips
I could reach out and brush heaven with the tips
Of my fingers as my toes are licked
By cold flames I can barely depict
And all the while that I’m drifting
I can’t help to take notice you’re still missing 

I can see you below among the turmoil
Standing alone upon uncultured soil
You glance up to see me gliding by
And offer less than a longing sigh
As society swiftly dashes your regret
And not one more moment do you fret
For your convinced there’s still time
You certain your clock can unwind 

I suppose it’s quite divine
On this cloud called number nine
It’s far better than any whimsical dream
Even greater than heaven could possibly seem
But there’s a hole in the skies as there is in my heart
With you so far away this reality’s torn apart
You’re so distant yet close enough to taste
And I dread every single minute that you carelessly waste 

You tell me time after time
That what you’ve done is an uncriminal crime
Over and over you try to persuade me
That some day far away we’ll be
Floating up above upon a puff of smoky heave
And not burning together in firry Kelvin
But I find to hard to believe your decree
Why can’t you just simply answer my plea? 

I’ll follow you to the far distant clouds
Or down to the dark flaming underground
My path lies where you choose to go
And nothing could force my feet to slow
Eternity just isn’t eternity
Without your loving company
I could be burning in hell or up some where divine
But as long as I’m with you, I’m floating on Cloud 9