end of the road

he was cold, battered, broken and damaged from the journey.
the shoes on his feet were but dust along the road from which he had come from. his eyes had lost their shine-the punishment of days of walking in the dust with his eyes spread wide open in order to escape the taloned clutches of death waiting for him to give in.
he saw the city.
he saw her running towards him, arms stretched out to receive his broken body.
he felt her around him, so alive within his arms.
and he knew the journey had been worth it.

Hypothermia (for 5.29.2013)

The water had been so long ago.

The submersion seemed like it had happened days and days ago. 

Now all I knew was the intense, painful cold. 

My body had ceased it’s shivering, and I couldn’t move to look around.

Everything just hurt. 

My lungs.

My hands.

My chest.

My legs.

Every part of me. 

I closed my eyes, but every time I did, something hit me. I faintly heard someone shouting my name. 

But I didn’t care. I just wanted to walk over to the fire and lay down in it. 

The fire couldn’t hurt worse than this hell. 

Promised Land

Here in the darkness under an enemy roof

I close my eyes and shudder

I’ve seen the truth exposed.

Didn’t they promise a haven? Refuge beyond the perimeter?

Isn’t that why I came here, with this ticking weight strapped to my chest?

But where is the sun?

the green grass?

this land of milk and honey?

I see through slatted windows a wasteland stretching on and on forever.

Clear skies and birdsong vanish in the dust.

It’s the death of the sun.

Their last deception.

No more false assumptions

I do this, I die, and it ends.

Just like that.

Dawn and Dusk

I’ll see you in the morning dawn, my love

When day is breaking over the horizon

When the morning dew is falling, cool and clean

When the moon begins to hide her face

Afraid of the sun

Or perhaps just playing hard to get

I’ll see you in the evening dusk, my love

When day is dying at the edge of the world

When the heat is fading, baked and dry

When the sun begins to run away

Afraid of the moon

Or perhaps chasing her around the world again

And I’ll not hide my face from you, my love

A Heartless Winter (for May 28 and 29)

The winter is here again.

The faceless cold that steals children from their mother’s sides, that brings disease, and death. And the snow. The snow that leads the trappers astray. The swirling, plunging, cold, blinding snow. It freezes limbs. It blinds all who try to venture out in it. There is no pity from the wind here, no hope to be spared from another cruel winter. A mother can only pray her children be spared from the harshness of winter and the snow does not lead their husband to death while he is checking the traps he so carefully laid.

---

The snow swirls outside the window. Brightly burning candles illuminate the bedside where a mother is sitting. Her children lay on the bed, snuggled together for warmth. A faint whimper draws her attention to the cradle by the fire of the one room house. She knows it is dangerous for a babe in a winter such as this. She rocks her infant son to quite his cries and prays a mother’s prayer that her baby survive the winter, her older two children remain healthy, and the snow not lead her husband to death while he is out checking their traps.