Two Poems by Jeremy Gosnell

Deep December

I imagine at home
The forest is wrapped in deep December
A swelling blanket of ice that holds its fibers close
The soft sheet of snow that insulates and destroys
A combination only Mother Nature herself could perfect

To protect and destroy
A gift of honor and yet of evil
What a gift it must be
To keep the safety of one in hand
And destroy the self of another with a gesture

Deep December keeps the forest cold and uncertain
Afraid and unwilling it must march to winters gates
Knowing the defeat is inevitable
It must bare a certain cost for a brighter season

When the cast of ice is shed beneath
To bring about life anew
Will natures protective bow
Bear another season of peace

I fear for us as I fear for the forest
For we are now lost in deep December
Uncertain and unwilling we have marched
To winters gates – a growing lost
Will those gates open again
So we can leave this cold embrace

And live again in the warmth of summer
Or drown in the chilling waters
Of another long deep December

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Become Forever

Through the looking glass I peered
Like peering into the window of another world
One cold, wrapped in the embrace of a sudden winter
An in-escapable cold that held all in its grip
Tightened by the chilling air, and spreading frost

The world had put us in perfect symmetry
You and I Visible to anyone,
to the stars, to the moon
And the sky

I peered at you, watching each movement, keen and calculated
My finger resting on the trigger
Trying to focus myself away from the moment
Imagine it as though I was not me
Making the entire moment faded and created
– a blurred and distorted reality

Though no thought or distortion
No calculation or dream could take me away from myself today
The cold of winter, the growl of hunger,
and the growing content of disbelief had manifested too well within me
Fear not my brother in arms, for I am as afraid as you

Circumstance abound I released myself from duty
For it was not my duty to take you from this world
The bullet to be your chariot, carrying you into the realm beyond
Their duty is theirs, not mine
So walk away my brother in arms,
leave this place and pray for white shore,
open fields and the forgiving rays of a gentle sun

For I will lay down my rifle forever
I will become forever
I will be the wind in the meadow
The song of the sea
The hum of a sleeping child
I will be immortal and everlasting
I will be today and tomorrow
I will be free of duty, free of war,
and riding the soft waves of peace

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