A Poem

Walking Shadows

They stand in the cold salty air
turning their heads slowly to the side
to say “Please lift me now. Please hold
my hand as I sweat out this world.

Please allow me a moment to breath
fresh air through my lungs again. Give me
time to walk among the roses, 
to watch as they grow to the wind."

They sit in the sand, water lapping
across their cold toes and swollen feet
as they watch the light fade over
the horizon. They are crippled

soldiers, fighting bravely in the sun
and lining the table as they fall. 
They leap into the waves, courageous
and wet, swimming deep into the night

to say "Into the bars we charge
our shots echoing to the moon
and the enemy stumbling down
to give us time, to keep us warm

in barren winter, alive in fields
strewn with dead children and lost notes
hidden in bottles never opened."
And then with a final shout
 
"Let us line them against the wall!". 
Their voices jump up to heaven, 
bouncing through clouds until settling
in a small grave by the Grecian sea.