Call to Arms

The days are growing shorter.
Colder.

Soon
snow will cover
all that we have left.

We gather today
to speak of survival.
Of continuing on
despite the hardships
despite the thought
that dances in the back
of our minds

This is not enough. 
We are not enough. 

And while we
at times
may feel inadequate
We have survived this much

There is no way
-not even in the farthest depths of Hell-
that I will back down now.

But I can only do so much.
I need you.
All of you.
And together
we can stand up
Fight.

Together.
We will survive.
As we have,
as we will.

It will not be easy
-It never is.

We will lose some.
Many...
I do not know.
But let those we have lost
and will lose,
not die in vain.

Today
I ask of you
All of you
To fight.

The hardest part
Is knowing
We won't live forever.
And it pains me
To know this.

My Mother's Eyes

Sun tanned skin

glittered in sand

The ocean crashing gently

and the air

as light as a feather

as heavy the rain 

pouring down.

I run across the beach

in a fury of excitement 

and childish vigor 

She sits watching
Resting back
On lean arms
and restless legs

She yells out to me
while pointing
towards the water

Dolphins dance
between the waves

Their fins disappearing below the surface
then with a sudden burst of energy
They fly into the air
Laughing
like children.
Like me.

And so
I laugh.

She laughs.

I sit back into her arms
and watch

The restless ocean
dancing before us.

Memories free flow
like water off the edge of a cliff

Falling
down
farther
and farther

Heart sinking
and rising

Adrenaline
pumping

Oh
how the years
have changed us.

Some of us made it
while others
did not.

I hold his face in my hands
in this moment
frozen.

Eyes a glacier
reflecting his regrets
his sorrow.

His pain
My pain

Memories free flow
Like water down a window pane
during a heavy rain storm.

Some of us made it.
Others
did not.

I hold his face
Frozen in my mind.

Some of us made it.
He did not.