Valentine's Day 1918

We greet the dawn
from our bed of mud
in a nameless place
that we must defend

Bland rations digested
we prepare our weapons
loading up ammunition
for the coming demolition 

In the cathedral silence
prior to yet another battle
my weary eyes
can see
the cloud of death
now hovering over me

Attack and counterattack
two stubborn forces
dance over charred real estate
in a fiery embrace

Late in the day
as the sun yields the field
I feel that warm sting
ripping through my heart

The bullet forged for me
that I never did see

On my back I collapse
my extremities going numb

Alone with
my crimson unrestrained

Life ebbing away

My fate now written

I'm a casualty today

Into the ledger of death
with tears in my eyes

I gasp
fighting to my last breath

I see the fading sky

The last scene
before I die

And my last thought
is of my first love
far away
beneath the same setting sun

Into the light 
I must now go

but I know

we will be
together again some day...