by DiAnne Bay
In the middle of the night
When sleep evades,
I close my eyes –
But they don’t obey.
The shadows dance
Across the dorm,
My mind entranced
With their shape and form.
I pull up my sheet,
Shielding eyes with my arm,
In hopes of sleep
Before the alarm.
Within the hollows
Of the darkened night,
I’m rendered speechless
By a soundless cry.
My heart pounds heavily
Within my chest,
My breaths, uneven,
Pull tight in my breast.
It’s then I realize,
That no man heard
The anguished cries
That spoke no words.
For the only demons
That haunt the night,
Are those that live on
In my heart and mind.
As visions of faces
So fearful to die,
Give in to the race
Of death over life.
So many rough shifts
Over the last few days;
Too many ‘What ifs,’
Have found their way.
My mind plays out
The harrowed scenes,
As I’ve come face to face with
Those left to grieve.
I stretch my spine
To ease my muscles,
When in the bed next to mine
I hear a soft rustle.
Fearful I’ve wakened
Another, I freeze;
But a voice, unmistaken,
Puts me at ease.
“Hey, Partner,” I hear
Calling out in the night,
So far yet so near,
In this hour of no light.
“We all do our job,
The best that we can;
Sometimes it’s just hard...
To admit we’re just ‘man’.”
I relax and I smile,
And I turn to my friend;
He nods a brief while,
And rolls over again.
I know he is right;
I guess I knew all along;
But it took his insight –
My partner called John.
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©2007
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