Rock Creek
and the flood of '63
It seems only a moment ago
Perhaps a blink of an eye
Or a beat of a heart
That I stood upright
Ready at my post
And proud of my station
Serving in this, a man's place
An army of Kings and dogs
Regally I stood before the flickering candle of war
And in that instant, became a bleeding dog
To be born from the field
By stalwart men, not yet afflicted
With torn flesh
Hours pass and I am left unattended
The sparse sounds of war are stragglers
In my ears
Everything is muffled and dull
All senses thirst for normalcy
Thoughts are erratic
As the loss of my life's blood
Is exacting on that process
Home no longer seems to be
A place with a door, roof or windows
It no longer seems, even a hand to hold
A voice to hear
Fresh baked bread to smell
Or a soft bed
Rather, it is now a place to die
To die quietly
In peace
With a smile in my heart
All night I await the journey home
When two angels bear me off to the stream
"Am I going home"? I ask
The older angel replies,
"Not yet, son. We are first going to try to save your life".
This made no sense
And my question went unanswered
Then the younger angel
Wearing the uniform of a soldier
Brought me a canteen from the stream
The pain lessened
As a symphony of water was passed
By my lips, tongue and throat
For a brief moment I could see
The angel as a man
He told me to, "lie still"
"try not to talk"
and then he became neither angel or man
only gone
Soon I thirsted again
First for water, then for life
I tried to crawl to the sound of the water
Which now raged as a storm in my ears
When the rain began
Starting slowly, as rain does
It soon came to stinging my face
No longer could I tell the blood from the rain
All was awash in the downpour
I slept and dreamed and dreamed awake.
The stream to which I could not crawl
Was now crawling to me
It grabbed my boot
And gave it a playful tug
When it rushed up my back
And turned my face to the earth
I knew it no longer as playful
I tried to raise my head
As the water now rolled me into it's belly
My knees moved downward
To land they could no longer find
I thrashed about as much as I could
Gasping and choking
Then came a great release
I was on my way home
A short trip through the rocky creek
Then into the lesser river
And again into the great flow
To the ocean
Where all my earthly worries would end
I now slept the beautiful breathless sleep of eternity
The dreamless sleep that knows no beginning
Or ending
Where the Lord mixes my dust and my waters
And spreads them again
On the earth
This page was last updated on: February 7, 2002