All’s well

Deafening thunder
shell storms asunder
cowers soldier

a night’s shelter
shatters the next
graveyard in its wake

all’s well, mama
in scrawny writing
announces the letter

flickering solace
for pining mother
a world away

Oh, the fall

Tall, erect, in line

like our soldiers sent to war

except, more alive

Photo: Sunset by the Lake Burly Griffin, Canberra, Australia

Soldier, long gone

Recruitment poster used during the Australian wars - on display at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra — Recruitment poster used during the Australian wars – on display at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

I look at you
once bright as dew
now frayed, tearing at the seams
a picture unlike any other it seems
beetle eyes gleaming through the glass
a spectacle for the students in my class
how well your brows curve crookedly
masking shadows of scheming wickedly
though just another memory to many
for your thoughts I’d offer more’n a penny
how you could while away your life
warring others’ battles without a strife
a proud son that faced his mother tall
and answered the motherland’s call