And I silently watch him, breathing heavily the cold winter air,

Filling his lungs, eyes frozen, lost in thoughts, lips numb –

With just an aching heart and ghastly shadows curbing his mind,

He would sit motionless, long blank gaze towards infinity.

I watch him sleep, lying beside, caressing his hair,

Like a child cuddling to the slumber bind, he closes his eyes;

For his spirit is burdened, heart punctured and soul forlorn,

And deep within his loneliness, he still urges a return.

I see him waking up at night, screaming;

Shadows haunt, a slave he became to the weird nightmares –

And finally he would stay awake, emptying the whiskey bottles

Whilst scribbling down thoughts, a surrender to his horrid past.

And every morning he would visit the cemetery

Where his brothers-in-arms are laid to rest,

He would sit for hours silently, staring blankly on the graves,

For a war still wages on his mind, harder to efface.

The war was finally over, peace has been restored,

But I couldn’t find serenity deep within his soul;

For he lost his innocence, the day he lost his brothers,

A curse to the core, for being a lone survivor, death-betoken.

And years later, for the first time, I see tears welling in the frost,

Like thousand years of clamor been brought to respite,

He smiled when he looked into the innocent eyes, he finally found his peace

With the touch of life, he held our new born in his arms.