The Flashback

Eyes dim, and I'm not here anymore,
I am in the heart of chaos, of war,

My hands move as they once did 

so long ago when I was a kid.

I want to scream and let out an anguished cry, 

But I know the end that comes soon, 

I can see with these old eyes and know who will die,

Oh to forget! What a prayer, what a boon!

The blood never washes away,

The screams never fade in my ear, 

The bullets always elicit fear,

I live it again. Even though I've seen this play.

Before me a man takes his last breath, 

And I, there to save life, am followed by Death. 

Stalking me, mocking me with that cruel laugh,

leaving me only this tear streaked epitaph. 

This time, THIS TIME I think, things might change,

but I can not alter what has transpired,

and it leaves my soul so utterly tired,

I know, you who have not been, think it strange. 

War should never be gotten over, 

It should scar and the pain should be searing,

The innocent should know of the broken bodies in Dover,

so that MAYBE caution would be used when war is nearing.

I fight these battles endlessly, like a warrior Sisyphus,

I do it so the dead might live for a moment more,

Not by choice, but as a cost of war,

Do not think me a weak victim, nor bold and chivalrous.

In the endless nights I will go back,

Until the dawn comes and lights the day,

Until finally I join the dead in the endless black,

I will have to learn to live this way.