Little Soldier

The ozone filled our lungs
The air toxic yet impossible to breath without
City lights reflected in our eyes
Mixing with stars long since faded
A haze of madness settled on empty streets
As we cursed the world
A pox for it's folly to bear us into it
Welcome little soldier
It should have known better
It should have known better
And it's unfairness
Life worn hands and lines too old for young faces
We should have tried harder
We should have tried harder
We broke ourselves
Fight little soldier
Your battle is here
Dig down and rip your pieces apart
As strings unravelled making soft edges hard
Baring our bones hidden away in dark corners
As we desperately searched
For something inside of us
Something else
Something that screamed
Something that fought
Something that could survive
Begging the stars
Calling out names we didn't yet know
That weighed too heavy on our tongues
Hoping beyond hope
That one day the carnage would stop
Replaced by a peace we have not won
Cry little soldier
The madness
The haze covered skyline
The whispers carried by winds unknown
The struggle and the filthy claws it came with
The teeth that grew long and rusted
Biting and lashing out to break skin
Crying out to the moon from
Atop the highest peak
In this deserted wasteland
Bleed little soldier
Crying and pleading with
Drink softened tongues that fumbled
Stories of beauty and starvation and desire
Deep and strong within our bones
Cracked and weakened
Clocks standing in corners and curtains drawn up
Hope lost on the weary
Faith wasted on the bitter
Mocked and left to rot
Sitting cold and forgotten
Withered battle worn warriors
Eldered not by time
That one day soon
With one day fewer to lose
Over
Over
Sleep little soldier
The battle wages on without you
Be free little soldier
Forgive the lines drawn too early
Forgive the wasted and the weary
For they too fight battles
And once hoped for peace
Rest little soldier
Before you're born anew