Why Go On?

September 2006

There are days that the sunset finds me
wondering
how did I make it through?
some twisted lottery playing with life...
I am half-dead, yet still functioning.
running on fumes?
(sometimes)
the question comes to mind
 ...with everything that happens...
 ...all the explosions and near misses...
 ...watching a battle brother fall to a bad ricochet...
why do I continue?
why do I do what I do?
is it that I am strong enough to stand up?
Or too stubborn to back down?
I go without sleep, sanity
(no safety) for days on end
so that people I will never meet,
who will never know my name,
do not have to live in fear.
I hunt the madness in the dark
while total strangers sleep deeply
I do it gladly.
I hope that hell is unleashed upon earth
while I am here to fight it.
Peace is for the future.
I fight, so that your children will not have to.
All for what?  What drives me?
I am no hero, no angel
my actions, unknown and unsung,
will not inspire others to greatness.
I am merely human, and my strength is mundane.
When my world is rocked by explosive force
knocking my feet from under me
and pitching me to the ground...
Why do I not stay down?
...it would be so easy to set the burden down
and let someone else pick up where I leave off...
What makes me stand back up?
(no limits, all is perception)
Why go on?
Simple... because I can.