1915

Guns have won

            Childlike show

God listens no more 

      Debased figures rot

                              Angry

Shorter indented lines

            sense of grim     order

Monstrous ANGER claiming victory

Ripped from life.   Unfriendly

                                    Bittersweet

Disappointed nature of war.   Unobservant

      Ultimate victory of foes by cold steel

The devoutly religious with no time to pray

Ineffectual begging given no moment

                                    Depressed

Order gives way to chaos     loose     unreachable

No survivors walk       the squalid trenches

GOD cannot listen

            Your voice unheard

                                    Helpless

The unfolding scenes of death.     Stripped away.

Erratic sounds in battle

Frequently breaking patterns.

Disruption coupled            to disorder

                                          Tortured

The pain goes on.

Loosely put.

His hands grip around my throat. He’s strangling me. Trying to choke my last breath out. I struggle. Twisting and turning. I try to raise my left open palm upwards to force his vice-like grip to release me. I slap. No change. I use both flailing hands. Nothing.

Still he pulls his chest towards his hands. My throat trapped between his intended route. I slide and writh but I get nowhere fast. I twist my aching legs, trying to backwards kick his kneecaps. Anything. Any little hope. He grabs tighter. I know I don’t have long left. My throat is burning. Every gasping breath I take could be my last. I push my body forwards trying to open a space between his chest and arms. The Steel-like bicep is sweating on my neck. I open my mouth wide forcing little air in.

I’m beyond desperate. I feel woozy and clouded. My brain is losing a battle. He slides a few millimeters along my throat. That marginal gain gave him the extra he needed. He already had the upper hand. I feel his chest muscles stretch and tighten. He takes a tired deep breath. One heavy pull and I resist the extra force. He loosens his grip by the slightest of pressures. A budgie feather in a fight fit for an ostrich. Can I escape now?