The Battle Poem by Tony Sandy

I am the wreckage
Of the person I used to be,
Smashed on the shore
Of bitter experience.

Where once was youth
Now stands monstrous old age.
The downturned mouth
Of disappointment looks on
As the upturned one,
Once gloried in expectation.

Crushed between
Past and future,
I limp through the present.
They call me dead
But my life struggles on,
Despite the pain of failure.

Those who would challenge me
Forgets the endurance
That drives people like us on,
Until death finally arrives
And shakes my hand
Like an old friend,
Long unseen…