She

She watches the swarm of men moving through her city.
What’s left of her city…
The once happy homes have become tombs,
holding broken remains, and broken dreams.
Names scribbled on what’s left of a wall the only reminder of lives now gone,
and with the arrival of these men, even that will become lost.
Family, friends, neighbors live on only in her memory,

She slings her pack off her back, and braces herself…
like others from her scattered unit in the city are doing.
Deep breath in…
                           … deep breath out…
 …She squeezes the trigger.

She falls to cover as a hail of bullets answer her own.
Their volley interrupted by her compatriots down the road….
New target, the enemy distracted…
Looking…
                  …Breathing…
 …firing.

There is a familiar rumble in the earth…
She heard this before…Men run from cover to get out of its way.
It rounds the corner, and bears down upon her.
She grabs her pack…
                                   …runs three steps…
 ... takes no more.

Her post explodes into a cloud of fire and debris,
bringing an end to what remained of the building,
and the memory of so many.

Her unit scrambles to stop the tank,
to push back the men,
but in the end, are forced to fall back.
She will be mourned…
                                        …She will be remembered
until the last in her unit falls.

Focus!

Wake,
Jump up!
Grab my clothes,
Run down the stairs
Into my garage.
There, my weights are waiting
For a 'Clang and bang' session
As Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson calls it.
My equipment is subpar at best
But I try to make do, and that's what counts.
Every minute I spend lifting today
Is an investment in tomorrow's
Happiness and my confidence,
Making me a better man
Than the one I am now.
Until tomorrow,
I have today.
Make it count:
Focus!
Lift...

Nightly

Tonight I bow my head and pray,
To thank the lord for this passed day,
And to ask him if he'd let me borrow
Another day, and another tomorrow.
          I go to sleep now, with no fear
          For all is in his hands from here...

Snow

Do you see the beauty that the snow holds?
Note how it gracefully floats from the sky
And covers all of the earth in a cold
Blanket of the purest sparkling white.
Mark the shrieks and shouts of unbridled glee
From the hearts of excited children
Who looked out their bedroom windows to see
Their dreams come true in the mounds that glisten
Gold in the bright morning sun. With such joy
I used to greet the snow when I was young!
How happier I was as a small boy!
I envy the joy I see in my son,
What he feels and I have long past felt,
Not knowing that it is destined to melt.