I look upon the world
With tired eyes,
Longing for pause
As the wretched day dies.
Constant threats
Loom overhead,
New terror arrives
‘Fore we bury our dead.
My senses are dulled,
My nerves are numb.
I’ve been beaten and bloodied
like a battlefield drum.
I lay my head
To drift off to sleep
Only for my mind
To bound and leap
With flaming images
Of carnage and death
From watching brothers in arms
Take their dying breath.
I’ve seen death of both
Those loved and hated,
Feeling remorse for each
Of the souls now fated.
I twist and turn
As I watch my eyelids
Wishing the horror to stop
But my mind forbids.
I look up and plead
In the quiet night,
That God will take pity
On the sorrowful sight.
I’m scarred and beaten
Along with my brothers in war.
For God and for Country,
The oath I swore.
Yet I know from what I’ve seen
Since this war had started,
From the presence of God
We’ve long departed.
Though I hope and I pray
That I will live through tomorrow,
I know I’m only alive
Because of time I’ve borrowed.
If I live to the day
Again to battle and brawl,
I sense it’s not far off
My debt will be called.
I have a sense,
A feeling down to my core.
I may live through the battle,
But not through the war.
We’ve strayed from God
Too far to return,
Now we only wait
For our lives to adjourn.