Shells fly overhead,

            dust kicking up in the air

filling the lungs,

            and choking the life

            from the blank eyes.

Staring up wide eyed and teary

            as the life slips away,

Laying there bare to the bone

            stripped of the soul

            lost to the sea of dust and rubble

            laying underfoot of the building

            crying out for release.

Release from the pain

            from the horrors that surround them

            cloudy eyes, bleary against the dust

            is that too much to ask?

                        For one chance?         

To be free of the pain within their hearts

            gripping and clutching at

            ghosts of the past

            ripping apart memories

            fragments of shrapnel encased in memory

Lying there, soul bared

            reaching out to the sky

            hoping for guidance

            in a quiet fleeting prayer

Shells continue to fly

            dust kicking up in the air

            filling the lungs

            and choking the life

            from more than one.