Behind the Mask of the Perfect Soldier

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I saw you smile yesterday

As you searched the weeping heavens for signs of ever-fading salvation

Your wind-tossed hair a sea of earthen shades

Your face a canvas for the paint of tears

A slight shimmer dancing in distant cobalt depths

A subtle curve graces pale lips

Behind the shield of your bangs

Your mask crumbles at the edges

Shattering your image of a

Perfect Soldier

Fingers of wetness

Not your own

Trace the curve of your cheek

Hoping to soothe your pain with their touch

Supple arms of fog

Sheath you from reality

In a haze of whispered promises and faded dreams

Your eyes are open doors to me

Showing me the depths of your heart

With their untold secrets

Somewhere within your soul

Happiness lies dormant

Locked in a box

With a light that won't shine

Pain ever present in your stead-fast gaze

The crimson force

That marks us mortal

Mingles with tears of the sky

Seeping from a self-inflicted cut

On the edge of your mind

Inner wounds mirrored by your

Soldier Eyes

You pulled the trigger on your dying dreams

Cutting from the inside out at your memory

Treading the line between hate and love

You scream for what you've lost

It echoes in your fiery touch

And fades in your icy stare

Your sadness seductive

A lost soul

Shrouded in black

Dealt a painful blow

By a last roll of dice

On the battle-scarred chessboard of your life

Waltzing forever to humanity's torturous melody

Ice running through your veins

Instead of blood

Am I the only one who sees you

And not the dark outer shell of a shattered being

Trapped in the confines of your creation

Are you afraid to let me see beyond the image of the

Perfect Soldier

Your mask has too many cracks to hide behind

Reach for the light

From your darkness

Self-imprisoned

Let your mask slip

If only for a moment

No fantasy beyond recall

Shards of dreams whole enough

To be reforged

Pain slipping away

Like sand through my grasp

Silently and unnoticed as Death

When its dark fingers shade your eyes

I saw you smile yesterday

Curved in agony and lust

For the relief of Death's embrace

Spreading wings of twilight over the horizon of your life

Memories fading to black

You catch my gaze from where you stand

Leaning in the open doorframe

Tank top wet and clinging to your skin

A subtle curve graces pale lips

Your mask drops and shatters

As you take the leap of faith

Leaving your emotions naked

Entrusting them to me

I saw you smile today

I would die a thousand times

In a thousand ways

If it meant seeing you smile again

Without pain or death in your eyes

All scars on your mind and body healed

A subtle curve graces pale lips

As you cross the room

Smiling that gentle smile meant for me

And no one else

You will always be my

Perfect Soldier

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