Soldier

I walk along tree edged streets

swaying from each bough

a suicided dream

window light, without welcome

seeps into the night air

 

I walk away from the silence of my room

away from muddy

bloody memories

from cloudy, swirling thoughts

I walk

 

the rhythm of footsteps

coldly evocative

I miss it, horrifyingly

I miss

the belonging

 

here, I am aimless

there… my aim…

I push my fists deep into my pockets

though the blood

has long been washed away

 

thoughts pass me through

steam trains heavy with

greys and

blues and

reds

 

at school, in French class I

was too embarrassed to elocute correctly

mimicking the flat, toneless drone of my classmates

was easier

was safer