You Went Away

Throughout our lives we expend great energy establishing and maintaining friendships. Our relationship with friends blossoms from a seedling, maturing to a point of intimate fondness reserved for a select few. We nurture that relationship as something so sacred, so close to our hearts that seemingly nothing can stand in the way of that friendship. Sadly something happens along this journey and the relationship changes…the flower withers and dies or that intimate friendship suddenly disappears, sometimes for no apparent reason.

How do we let such precious relationships slip through our grasp? Now all that’s left is the pain.

You Went Away

All that we had I thought was a lifetime
The days and nights spent, the laughter and tears
So many moments, so many memories
All of a sudden you just walked away

How can I change what must have been broken
So wrong that forever you went away

Time and distance has gotten between us
Irrevocably close, now torn apart
The warm embraces, unspoken glances
Kept all that we had forever in place

What did I say that brought separation
So wrong that forever you went away

All of the miles that we walked in silence
The paths that we chose so easy to climb
Words always came to us without effort
The memories linger of better times

Can something so good slip through our fingers
So wrong that forever you went away

All I feel is regret for whatever
Suddenly severed the bond that we had
Am I mistaken, was it your doing
How can something so right turn out so wrong

Just one more chance is all that I’m asking
Make up for the pain that sent you away…

How can I change what must have been broken
So wrong that forever you went away

Copyright 2008 Don MacIver

Lest We Forget

Since the early beginnings of recorded history and beyond there has been conflict between peoples. That conflict has turned violent, whether between individuals, tribes, factions, organizations, and the military. Whether for personal, religious or political reasons the results are often tragic. We subscribe to ideologies that at times become an obsession, fixating on what we deem to be correct, moral, just or rational. We are no longer a peaceful, patient people. Instead we let force navigate our existence, our fate. We loath banal indifference preferring a call to action, the consequences be damned. We take life as a means to an end begrudgingly, resignedly.

But what of the lives that are lost and the devastation left for surviving loved ones to deal with? We cannot and must not ever forget about the consequence…

Death by precision justifies
Killing field’s slaughter, consequence
Limbs strewn in bloody disarray
The stench of war suffocating
Tears stain a soldier’s uniform
Streaks of anguish shed in vain
Abated fear haunts silent graves
Where the fallen rest, prayer’s refrain
A nation mourns the deathly toll
Mounting daily through unresolve
Row upon row of caskets draped
With flags of homeland awaiting
Courage, conviction marked their way
With honor dispatched, homeward bound
While loved ones gather far away
Distraught, they grieve their painful loss
Lest we forget the brave who served
Pause to reflect their selfless acts
Preserve our freedom and protect
Our way of life, to live in peace

Copyright 2008 Don MacIver