S.K.

My mind is preoccupied with you

I wonder where you might be

Off to fight in this endless war

Thousands of miles away

Scenarios race through my brain

Of death and pain

Do you ever feel unsure

Of what we’re really fighting for?

I saw you on Sunday

You’re back home 

I wonder for how long this time

You look…blank

A face devoid of anything

What happened to you?

It’s a new year

January 1st

My resolution is about to break

You’re gone again

I have a feeling this time

You won’t be coming back

It’s another Sunday

When I hear the news

Your family is absent

Empty spots in the church pew

Roadside bomb

Six dead

And I know one of them

Was you

Gunfire, salutes and a flag

A brown coffin and black mourners

Color my Thursday

I feel intrusive

Stuck in one place

Unable to move

A slab of grey

Is all that’s left of you