Home Coming

by Neville Johnson

Dimly lit empty room,

My life boxed up.

Alone in my room,

Sitting on the edge of my bed.

I can feel the nothingness, weighing me down.

The overwhelming feeling crushing me.

Numbness taking control,

My bittersweet ending.

Tears running down my face.

My empty void overflowing

I’m sobbing and crying.

Breaking down, yet, it all feels so trivial.

Silence taking a hold.

White noise filling my mind.

Laughter breaking the silence.

I’m laughing and crying.

I realized I made it.

I’m home.

___________________________

This first appeared in The Havok Journal on March 4, 2021.

Neville was born and raised in South Africa, in June 2000, at the age of 23 he left his home country to live and work in the United Kingdom.

At the age of 26, Neville joined the British Army and became an infantry soldier. He served seven years in the British Army and during that time deployed on active duty to Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan as part of an infantry reconnaissance platoon.

After his time serving Queen and Country, he worked as a private security contractor in Iraq, on numerous Unites States government contracts.

Neville is currently living in New Zealand with his wife and three young kids. He’s now working for a private organization running a military-focused Services Academy and a Business Management program for students in a local High School that provides young people with skills sets, knowledge, and values to become leaders in their communities for a better way of life.

During quiet times, he focuses on writing, specifically poetry. Some of his poetry has been published in three books alongside the work of other veteran writers, “Sweeping Leaves in the Wind”, “Alone in a Crowded Room” and “War… & After the anthology of poet warriors.”

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.