Raise your head!
You are not here to lead a comfortable life…
Whatever comforts you’re eyeing will drip into nothing.
“Forever” is misleading and “never” is assuming too much.
There’s a spot on the mantle for you. They’re waiting; they know your vacancy.
Take out your best clothes. Paint your face.
Wavering between discouraged and invigorated — there’s only one side to continue the story.
…..
The soldier plops his buckler on the spare crate, gathers his recruits and slams his mug on the table. Some hours before battle.
“Which of you came here to die?!” he shouts.
No one stirred from their spot.
“Silence, huh?” He chuckled. “I bet the bunch of you thinking you prepared. But let me say something while we’re waiting for Capt. Because I hate this war, and I want to slap you. None of you have the courage to shut me up.”
Eyes widened. Boos too. Some brows furrow. What exactly is this guy on about?
“I’ve seen many ironed out gazes turned to mush at a jugular slash. Shook legs, screams, begging for a mother!”
“Do you know why? Because the sorry lot of you didn’t realize you were living. For some of you, this will be the first movement you’ll find yourself alive. You probably signed up for some direction, maybe some output, but did you really expect someone to tell you to open your eyes?”
“No one will. Well, no one can. And even hearing my words, they don’t register in your thick filmy head.”
“Give me hell if you live through this. Let me see your veins pop. Raise your glasses high! Drink! Maybe in your drunken stupor some of what I said will pass through.”
And so they did.