Soldier in the Rain

I. INNOCENCE LOST

Starving years of a hungry time
Living off the memories that were not mine
Hopeful eyes blinded by the light
Open arms that embraced the night
Upon my face wore the mask of death
With every stride of borrowed breath
The forbidden fruit of a love beguiled
Was heaven's gift to a devil's child
Dreams that lived beyond his fate
Died in life where it could not wait

And the whisper of echoes remains the same
In the cold, and the wind, and the rain

II. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Where wounds lay across the fields of sorrow
Were once on a battlefield medals of honor
Now grazed by the silver hands of time
Pasturing the memories with wine
From a once empty glass
Grains of sand shall pass
Filling that silence I treasured
Through a life only an hour measured
The passing of years, so sensually costly
Through the eyes of youth, killing me softly

And the gold, and the glory, and the fame
In the cold, and the wind, and the rain

III. PRISONER OF SORROW

He could not touch from the fear of taste
The eyes of tomorrow only reflected the waste
Thoughts of the past had hoped to live today
Dreams of forever are where the crimes lay
Cast himself alone in a life apart
When he found an island in his heart
Trampled by the ocean's little feet
Where stranded man and memory meet
The waves of time from the sea of waste
Washed ashore the memories he now could taste

And the voices in the dark that moan and strain
In the cold, and the wind, and the rain

IV. ANONYMITY'S DEATH

Across the warmest stretch of sand
Have laid the names of burning hand
My nakedness only feels the heart is bare
As empty faces lay traced in nameless stares
Lingering in the air were the memories that bring
Back the flowers of summer in a scent or a spring
And the kisses of sorrow dampen the wrinkles
Within pages of passion that now only flickers
As the farthest star on the ledge of night
A world of darkness by candlelight

And the shadows that danced in the flame
In the cold, and the wind, and the rain

V. STRANGER IN THE RAIN

Dreams of light within the dark
Shadow of night, bare and stark
Smoke filled evenings spread the sky
Above a lonely wanderer to live or die
In between the chapters of sunset and dawn
Where all his days have closed and gone
All the stars are raining bright
The last survivor sleeps tonight

EPITAPH

To be among was only right where pride hung in shame
For history had its justice when passion knew his name

And the youth, and the man, and the name
In the cold, and the wind, and the rain