Dangling In and Out

A soldier's last moments on the battlefield.

Dangling In and Out

By Erin L George

 

Grass blades dull on inspiration

sulk in his pores; laying there, dying

an old man shouts for his last glimpse of sunshine

in moonlight.

 

Field crickets emulate an enemy’s song

foreign jugglers wisp from just over the last wheeze.

A past and a now, lost in veins.

 

Ah! But not lost, my dear friend,

for even foe ride not alone,

but among friends.

And crickets speak of ear,

drums; throbbing in distance, bought

Not sold.

 

So let thou trumpet sound!

Prepare the carriage

and let’s triumph through endlessness!

For foe is weak and sway,

feathers flap,

uncontrolled inside quantum.

 

His veins begin to let

yellowed memories seeping soft

into ground anew.

 

Flap.

Flap.

                 Flop!

 

Their elephant footsteps clamor away;

too loud to hear him fade.