sweet stranger
i don't know how to hate ya
our stomachs are empty
but our hearts are fat and plenty
three days and nights without rest
please take me to the forest
blackbirds and pine cones
lay me among the bluestones

you say you've crept under hung stars
strapped bombs to fuselages
you've seen seen night skies kill daytime
you've seen good men become ashes
you've seen geography come crashing
you've seen angels wingless and thrashing

when you can lift
up a heart
over its health
suggesting we're not
inseperable

your handles hang so low
they drag me through the snow
i've not known skin nor coat
what would withstand what we've known

over thousands of acres
through ice shelves and glaciers
you've drug me in from frontlines
to a warmth dressed in peacetime
though i've sworn not to notice
i've seen your image on men's helmets
so if only to test me
sweet friend i pray you rest me

when you can lift
up a heart
over its health
suggesting we're not
inseperable