2000 By William R. I. "Easy" Smith

c

Adrift into another time it's a now and then thing with my kind A face in the crowd a smell in the air Most anything can take us there a movie often reminds Of a loneliness that sets in sometimes And takes us from the now We're often asked "It's been so long, how?" The night was clear a rarity any time of the year Tonight it didn't even rain the silence promoted inner pain The wind was lifeless the breeze stifled A chance to relate a chance to clean the plate A rarity you hear any time of the year The residue of smokey skies a chance to turn the head and cry Not that shame was bad to do but another warrior might see you Friendships were tabooed but hard to ignore Again no shame but there were rules in war You cease all feeling for reality sake Bullets have no names just life to take My good friend died and when i cried I was reminded again this is war, don't make friends But how did we become that way it was mostly non-verbal Back watching one another as comrades would say A rarity on any day adrift into another place Fast forward present day still settled in our warrior way Back  watching continues But friendships are made And kept...and contact maintained a rarity with my kind...that's how We still come from far and near we still deal with life's battles We're still coming home memories don't leave us alone Many still out in the cold a rarity that doesn't get old We still know fear we still see the bullets Just the rounds aren't real sometimes there's pain so deep We're often kept from our sleep we react as we've been taught Watching the perimeter still routine "You never know, know what I mean!"  And all become the enemy we fought all feelings are stuffed And we're continually asked "It's with you still? A rarity  adrift in the past actions makes us want to kill Our families try to understand how can it be with any man Loving husbands and fathers turned inside out Filled up with rage and when we shout They run and hide and we stuff and stuff And get lost in our pride with no one to run to  We swell up for a bumby ride as loved ones wait for the anger to subside With no one to share our feelings inside But this time around we can make friends It's no easier when another life ends Triggers still fill the air the smell of gasoline And zoom some kind of battle scene and the crowd strangers pose many dares A rarity you hear  for warriors knowing age old fears Outside my door the bullets still fly They still have no name so I just hit the floor And when sky is quiet and the odors cease momentarily And the crowd is hushed and the winds of time sleep  And the bullets with no name lay and play the waiting game We get a chance to relate we get a chance to clean the plate And when we get lost in our pride another warrior is ready to be at our side  Someone who knows one who can handle what I say Someone to tell me IT'S OK, IT'S OK