Back to Issue 2

Shattered Image by Terry Hamel

Shattered image
  as he stares
  his mother lays
  in a drunken haze

  Taken from his
  eyes, the innocence
  she laid unawares
  and he stared

  The men took
  her soul
  again and again

  Sadness, depression
  buries her still
  and the
  innocence of
  childhood
  disappears

  turning into
  salty tears
  and dark secrets
  locked inside

Duty by Terry Hamel

Sitting, alone
  in a room
  far from home
  I wonder
  if what I do
  is tearing me
  down

  Tearing the fabric
  of my soul
  tearing the love
  from my family
  stealing
  me from those
  that love

  All for their
  purpose, all
  for Duty
  is that what
  it means
  to give it all

  Does success
  mean failure,
  loss
  depression, when
  is duty too much?

  Is it when
  you see a child laughing
  or families together,
  a telephone call in the
  night-full of fatigue and
  fright

  But duty pays,
  it pays in blood
  it pays in loss
  and then it steals
  the love from my
  heart

Bio:   Terry Hamel is a happily married father of four.   He is currently serving in the Canadian air force as a Loadmaster on the C130 Hercules.