Beautiful Morning Star

Brittle cold air descends upon us
ECWCS, thermals, and gear barely slow
All the probing frigid fingers
Urging themselves skin-ward;
Tiny lances of fear.
Into night vision enhanced eyes,
Focused upon dark horizons,
Upper mountain peaks dance,
Littering the flat desert landscape.

Many nights are dangerous,
Others, dreary and monotonous.
Right now I would rather sleep,
Nestled in warm down comfort
In my wife’s protective arms,
Not stand in sandbag enforced steel
Guarding freedoms and wasteland.

Star’s piercing light on the horizon
Tells me morning is slowly creeping near.
Another day Venus greets me
Reminding me of winter mornings and home.

____________________________

Lou, a Christian grateful for Jesus’ gift to him, was born and raised in the western hills of Maine, then spent 20 plus years wandering the country and world in the United States Air Force. Maine Department of American Legion’s Historian, he is a photographer and stringer for The Maine Trust for Local News, published poet and short story writer who pens faith-based devotionals. He lives in Rumford, Maine. He is author of an anthology of poems based upon his military career entitled: Dimly Seen Through The Mists, and a book of faith-based poems entitled: My Lighthouse In Troubled Times, available through Pen It! Publications. He can be reached at mbsphotog@yahoo.com or his Facebook Page.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.