In memory of...

Originally done for an assignment, it's an anti-elegy describing the loss of a childhood.

In memory of …

I.

When I was a child

I was born into love,

As every child should.

In fact, it was all I ever knew.

 

I found it everywhere.

Spewing from my mother’s mouth,

Radiating from my father’s " ….?

To my brother and sisters.

 

There’s such naivety when you’re a kid.

You just wake up,

Get dressed,

Eat breakfast,

Go to school,

Come home.

 

I remember 

I would always play with those little green men.

Tank up on the hill,

Men in the trench.

Hours passed, and I would always be late for dinner.

Damn,

I would always " ….?

I don’t remember,

It always eludes me, but the love

There was always the love.

Now that,

That I remember.

II.

My father,

I always loved him,

And he

Loved me.

 

I would wake up. " my mother…"

Get dressed,

Eat breakfast,

Go to school,

Come home. " she …? "

then

So would he. 

 

I remember 

He would always come home

And then we would. "...?"

Newspaper in hand…

Lamplight glowing in the corner…

And me,

Little freckle faced me,

Up around his shoulders,

My favorite spot.

And his,

The couch.

Damn,

We would always " …. ?"

I don’t remember.

 

But there was always the love!

I loved him,

And

He me  " …. ?"

III.

My mother,

She always loved me,

And

I her.

A child always

Loves

His mother.

 

I would wake up  "… she would"

Get dressed,

Eat breakfast,

Go to school,

Come home. " no, my father, he would… "

And then  "….?"

She would always "….?"

There was…

There was something 

Was there? Or was it nothing?

No, there was something " …. ?"

 

F**k!

Yes I remember!

It was always like… or was it more….?  "

Damn!

We would always  "….?

I don’t remember.

IV.

I don’t remember

And then I grew up.

Fairly quickly, I remember.

But the day I did " the day I had to

Grew started with a ‘D’

And up,

Up ended with an ‘E.’

 

Those words,

Those words like iron into wood,

Uttered but once, but                              were

Pound                                          ed

       In                                 to

     

       My                  head

     Forever.

Forever, from then on, I was grown up.

V.

As I approached,

The tank on the hill fired its last shot;

Not toward the men,

But somewhere near the end.

As I approached,

The men in the trenches turned,

Their guns they had laid to rest.

‘Hoo-rah!’

I heard them shout.

‘Hoo-rah’ 

I said

‘The battle is over.

You fought well brave soldiers.

I was your general, and you were my men,

but

We knew this day would come, though quicker it was in the end.

They divorced, and I grew up " D E ... D? " in more ways than one.’

VI.

I gave them my last salute,

And they to me.

‘Good-bye my men,

Now I must go

Down,

                  Down,

Never to return.’

I say, I have not erred, and thus I've writ

         Love never was, and love never will be.

Author's Note

picture belongs to http://jemmastanley.deviantart.com/