God's Gallipoli

Sloping head bent to wind as always
Slugging it out 'til the end, the boxer
Going over the top
In God’s Gallipoli
Set me up Joe, body lean but mind obese
Maple angel leaves once shifted in the trees
When light was a truly wondrous thing
But now they crackle under my feet
Like the old life’s longings
Of sailors once robust
In buttons and coats now just mud and bone
And teeth beneath me
Grist for star dust, the bone crushing rock of ages
Cancer took the spring from my lover and gave us forever autumn
No thoughtlss smoke now, no blind drink
No idle lunches draming of a whole 'nother world of things
It’s down to brass tacks and saline sacks and
Vincristine injections and early detections
Take me in one swoop God don’t let me dwindle
I watched the light leave my mother’s bed-sick eyes
She’s so scared — once gone, I kissed her cheek
And the cold of her skin held on my lips
It’s hard to think that this is how it ends
Stretched out on a bed sheet
Sorting through a wreckage of regrets
Back in the ring now
With eye held just high enough to see the prize
Head bend forward at hip into wind as always
Slugging it out 'til the end, the boxer
Going over the top
In God’s Gallipoli
You know the thing that haunts me the most
Are all those crystalline moments
Where adrenalin and light filled my belly and head
And the moon winked as if to say yes
And I ran in the cold night and sweated and it felt good
I ran in the cold night and sweated and it felt good
And I could hit the nail on the head
And drive that fucker home
And I could hit the nail on the head
And drive that fucker home
Going over the top
Going over the top
Going over the top
In God’s Gallipoli