Souls
(1)
hard
to dispute
the logic
of a
5 year old
Eliza wakes
up shaking
crying she
calls my
name
she is
afraid of
dying again
this feeling
swallows her
like a
hand inside
a pocket.
(2)
As I
hug her I
stroke her
hair and
give her
the Catholic
answers my
parents gave
me at
her age
don’t worry
it’s a
long long
way off
and when
it does
happen I
will be
waiting with
grandpa and
all your
family
Eliza’s voice
breaks
“Daddy
I’m the
youngest
so I
will have
to be
alone for
so long”
I think
she cries
her weight
in tears.
(3)
I can
only hold her
feel scared
I know
alone
it has
ridden
my shoulder
daily since
the war
I know
fear
of death
I have
held a
dead child’s
body and
handed it
back to
its father
I know
fear of life
after war
fear for
men without
legs or arms
fear of
my own life
without faith
with almost
no soul left
fear of
crowds and
the feeling
that no
matter how
many people
are around
I am still
dying alone
by minutes
and inches.
(4)
I say
nothing
just pull
her close
cry with her
in silence
as I
promise
to her
to me
to the universe
and every
religions God
that I
will get
some of
my soul
back
buy it
steal it
reclaim it
rebuild it
out of
something
or out
of nothing
some how
some way
I will
have it
so I
can leave
it with
her when
I go.
Matthew Borczon is a nurse and Navy sailor. He is the author of a
Clock of Human Bones from Yellow Chair Review Press, and Battle Lines
from Epic Rites Press. His next book, Ghost Train, will be out in June
2017 from Weasel Press. Sleepless Nights and Ghost Soldiers is set for a
release in 2017 from Grey Boarders Press as well. He publishes widely
in the small press.
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