yin and yang?
Good and bad,
yin and yang
why is there no grey
to darkness add?
The world isn't just
and the killings aren't free
they will pay the price
of the mortal spree.
there is no good
and there is no bad
it's all trapped
in the black
quicksand.
for in the good
there is a smear of bad
and in the bad,
there is a tad
of good;
it's all just grey
as it should
yin and yang
mixed for good.
Silent Warehouse
Boxes of wood and iron
Each crate tells its tale
Some wrapped in red, others draped in blue
Some set upon sail, others to fly
Tens of thousands shipped to here or there
Serving its purpose to carry its cargo
All branded with tearful eye and cold stare
Hand crafted by masters who know
Still many more are left empty
With no name to receive
All charges for service free
Fate’s memory determined in drink and bereave
Twenty-one lead barrel
Two pence placed in sight’s range and scent clouded by frankincense
Six feet deep but dry is the inkwell
As chisel and hammer be webbed, so quiet, infinite silence
The Darkness
In the back of her mind, there was always a darkness. A twisted sense she couldn't control, but it was always pushed back into the depths of her mind. Hidden from the world so well, it could only reveal itself in her dreams. It left her terrified of her own anger and jealousy, so she banned negative emotion from her life. Chasing it away with laughter and fake rainbows, she almost felt free. She inspired people with her happiness, but wondered what they would think if they saw the battle inside.
Wreckage
I realize now I should not have asked him. At the time I was curious. I wanted to know what it was like, to understand something of what he had been through. I didn’t know that I could not understand because he could not tell, not in any meaningful way, not in a way I could comprehend.
Foolishly naively I asked him, “Was it worth it? You know, for the great good?”
He answered me, his words at times a torrent, at times a whisper, little by little I came to realize just how broken, a soldier can return healthy from war.
He said, “It is no good. There is no good, not in battle. I saw my friends die and thanked God it wasn’t me and then I drank away the guilt I felt because it wasn’t me. Some of them would have given up their lives for me. I watched them die. I couldn’t move. They were better men than me.
“It is not like the movies. It is life and death. There is no rhythm or reason to it, who lives, who dies. I live each day with the ghosts of those I killed. I see their faces in my dreams. I beg them, plead with them. I want them to know, I only killed them so they couldn’t kill me. But they have no mercy, no pity, the dead.
“You are asking me if I believe in what it was we went over there to fight for. I know having been their such a question is irrelevant. There are no politicians or political discussion on the front. It is kill or be killed, and sometimes both. The only thing upon your mind is staying alive, for your family, if you have one, or yourself if you don’t.
“I take no pride in what I have done. It is not about honor or glory. I have seen little children die, human shields, innocents wiped away by my own side, by my own hands. I have walked through smoldering wreckage, buildings destroyed, bodies fragmented.
“Was it worth it? Do my children sleep safer in their beds because of what our troops have done, because of what I’ve done? No, they don’t because of what it’s done to me.
“Others have asked me, what is it like to be home, to come back? I don’t know. It has been fourteen years and I am still there far more than I am here.”
Insert Something Interesting Here
I am the fulcrum of an innate sadness,
Wandering around, drenched in madness,
The world tells me I am good,
But I'm deeply misunderstood,
I kill and maim and raze,
I set this land ablaze,
Don't look into my eyes,
Everyone who does will surely die,
I am neither the evil in the heart,
Nor the hero to tear it apart,
I am only the necessary,
The arbitrary consequence of our vices,
That we have left to fester without penance.
I am the white, the gray, and the black,
Here only to pierce the drunken flask,
That holds the alcohol of insecurity,
And the turmoil of superiority,
I am what is needed,
Upon your birth you will be greated,
By flaws and laws,
You can't comprehend,
Once you do, you will see the end.