Their freedom granted by bifurcation
Roots severed from the family tree
They mourned the living, in brief
Discarded the wither and blight

Shed no tears to the fallen branches
The stench of phantosmia remains
Spring can't mask the memories
The wretched guilt shows no bark

The sap leaks through each season
The moss where blossom should be
Old wounds cast in the amber
Preserved for the life of the tree

Half dressed in a dawn chorus
Juxtaposed by muted decay
A lowly woodpecker knocks
Broken by a solitary shrill.

By Darren Wall ©

They shed no tears as the bridges burned
A lingering stench of phantosmia remains
No pouncet box can mask the memories
Their shame leaks through guilty pores

By Darren Wall ©

He escaped the invasion
And the imminent threat of harm
He locked all the doors and windows
And turned off all the alarms

Stepping out into the cold
His breath mixes with the night air
Sneaking to avoid attention
Beneath the cold winters glare

The one place he called his home
Was infiltrated and exposed
He flees to a place of safety
Far away and undisclosed

Too scared to know the dangers
He will face on the street alone
His frozen feet break ground for miles
Leading him to the unknown

His wife returns to darkness
Her home painted by fallen snow
The knots churn inside her stomach
Dread and panic starts to grow

Sirens ring in the distance
She can't enter there all alone
What if he finally rested
His pale skin, as cold as stone

All her calls switched to silent
The wall of noise, too much to bare
His phone smashed and then discarded
They could track him everywhere

She cannot wait no longer
The door creaking open to see
Her torch expels all the blackness
His phone is amongst the debris

He couldn't walk no longer
His bare feet bitten by the frost
Winter elements took their toll
He paid the ultimate cost

A chopper in the distance
A loud rasp fills the cold, cold air
The voices calling out to him
The police are everywhere

He wakes from winter slumber
His wife in a hospital chair
He calls her name so softly
I'm so sorry I wasn't there

By Darren Wall ©

His senses held him prisoner
Overwhelmed and alone
Walls were his burden
The light too much to bear
The soaked linen of yesterday's news
Stained of fear from battles before
He needs to be cradled
Yet no one comforts him
He rocks back and forth
Rhythmic on the floor
Anemic screams suffocate
Silence fills the void
That breaks with a rasp
Sirens in the distance
They did not come for him
Noise bleeds through gaps
Like it did before
He weeps