Fading into Solace

By Xander Hacking

The Silence, but for wind,

Woven through the lonely trees.

The forest sleeps upon sharp cliffs,

Resolute, high and firm above the sea.

A single hollow cabin,           

Grasps the fading heat

Of a fire long-since lit.

Flames licking, falling to sleep.

Dawn has long risen.

Twilight soon descends

Hastened by the gray clouds,

Which yet withhold their rain.

This tapestry of Solace --

Though filled with scent and sound --

Leaves a mind alone

To face its own stirring depths.

-           -           -

Though the memory is of but a moment

The feelings are etched deep.

Her face is gone from recollection

(Was it ever even there?)

But her gleaming auburn hair:

Forever set in stone.

Her name escapes my thought,

No matter how I try.

The cloud and mist of wakefulness

Plunder much from my mind.

My heart cries she was important,

That she meant so much to me.

I remember, we were running,

Something, something, dark close behind.

I must keep her safe.

Give everything to protect her.

-           -           -

As now I stare unending

Where eternal waves meet slate sky,

I wish to know the answers,

Hidden, lost, stolen from my mind.

I am left with only questions,

Uncertain of her fate.

Did I keep her safe? Or did I fail?

The once sharp image blurs.

The memory feels so real. But is it?

Was she? 

Courage of The Captain

By Xander Hacking.

Dim the fires smolder,
Their tenders cold and hard.
The few still burning brightly,
Warm the broken, stooping men.

The field was green and peaceful,
But such seems ages past.
Littered with the fallen,
It sleeps now in dark and ash.

This is not the first day,
(We pray it be the last)
When our strength faltered,
And hope seems gone and past.

A figure emerges from the night,
Towards us huddled living.
His eyes are wet in mourning,
But bright with courage burning.

He puts his hand upon the shoulder,
Of every broken man.
We stand a little taller,
As we recall His Plan.

"We fight for something greater,
Than thrones and kings of man.
This day was a costly battle,
But we will rise again.
The path we tread 's not easy,
But Joy is ours come the end."

As our Captain parted,
His light lingered in our eyes.
Though our wounds still festered,
We no longer felt the pain.
Through the healing of our Master,
We are whole again.