Survival Poem by Nona Vaught

The prolonged largeness of the night
Indifferently encompassed him.
The enormity of the scope
Came to him then without amiss.
Stood he still at last, contemplate,
After the war-weary labor
To dissect the morning events
And the long tedious aftermath.
Thin and thick came a sudden rush
Of cool sweet air partly mixed with
A lingering occasional
Remembrance of artillery.
Interval of welcomed silence
From unresolved and crucial war,
Soldier-like, he stood and wondered
At the dramatic maze of things.