Faye Sizemore

SHADOWS ARRIVE

Carolina moonlight filters thru the pines
Whippoorwills call… it is evening time…
The coming shadows are lengthening…
Awakening… memories in his mind…

I see in his eyes… the pain of the years,
Pain I cannot share… nor bathe with my tears…
Memories, with no place to run, no place to hide,
Perhaps with an answer, in peace, he could abide…

He remembers their smile, the line of their face…
He knows he’ll not see them again…
At least… not in this place…
He remembers their cries when they fell…
Even though… years ago… in that place of hell…

Someone, please… tell him why…
His brothers, his buddies, their blood ran red…
He can’t forget… he won’t forget…
In war… there was no time for good-bye.

Author’s Note: For my Vietnam veteran, Lance Corporal Grant Van Cleaf USMC