suddenly awake
sleep gone
sky grey
day just begun
focus my thoughts
pictures rise from
long, long ago.....
from the battlefield......
world war 2.....
the Black Forest.....
Aachen in 1944......
it is first light
I stand above
my fallen enemy
holding a snapshot
from his jacket pocket
a smiling blonde young man
a smiling blonde young woman
in her arms an infant
iconic young family
the father dead at my feet
he is my age
I feel only a
moment of remorse
it was he or me
today I won