Souls

Heat lightening streaks through the sky

Thunder follows the hollow flight  

Rains cleanse the tear soaked  ground  

An all to familiar sound

The wind picks up with whirling gusts  

An eerie howling with each thrust  

Sadness lurks in the shadows grim  

Souls vanish before us as the light grows dim  

Fierce tremors ripple beneath our flesh  

Emotions turbulent as souls await  

Hearts and minds go separate ways  

Bodies and souls  forever displaced  

When will our nightmares end?   

Set  us free of guilt so our hearts can mend  

Release us from the cries, and death  

Our senses rage, does our presence offend?

We were at rest 'til our names were inscribed

Our  families remembered, went on with their lives

Brothers of war dealt with their strife

Now this Wall of death is their center of life  

The time of release has not yet come  

This war of silence cannot be won  

The victims of peacetime, etched upon the face  

Of Black Granite Stone,  

We are embedded in this place :

Richard D, "Boondocker" Preston  9/19/2000