The Blood & The Bones

these deaths I have survived
under mountains carried
with a weight that would
bury most men
and here I am
one foot
then another
I will not succumb
to the fear or to failure
sometimes I am merely

rusty metal creaking

threatening to come unhinged
but bravery never needed

stability

and so
we march ever forward
bearing down
carrying on
silently battling
whether the war is
with them
or within

the blood
& the bones