Me and my comrade in a fox hole.

Not exactly hearts and flowers.

Not first date jitters.

Not “Congratulations !!”

on your new baby….

on the new home….

But appropriate for our years.

The unwinable last battle

lingering on the horizon waiting for sunrise.

C-Rats nearly gone.

Ammo just about used up.

Exhaustion from the bloody fights in freezing midwinter,

each taken their toll on both of us.

And there is a deep down knowing

of the inevitable

no quarter-no prisoner black flag

hanging along our enemy’s front line.

Yet, still, we are here!

Hunkered down, together in the mud.

Waiting side by side for the coming blood.

That old joke among the fighters:

“When is the best time to die?”

FIRST AND FAST!!!

But for my comrade sleeping beside me.

Peaceful, now, for the moment.

Secure in the warmth of knowing,

still

there is love.