Connected

He drove away after graduation
Determined to make his own way
I said goodbye and almost forgot him

I woke in a bath of sweat
Terrified the streams of sweat
were actually the color dark red

It was just a dream
A nightmare, that I later realized
He'd actually lived

Explosions and crying
And tears that would never end
His eyes watered, wondering...

Would the pain ever end?
He closed his eyes and drifted into sleep
With a pillow of shrapnel piercing his head