The work that must be done

The work that must be done                                                                             

It appears the loneliness

will become almost unbearable.

Sorted out along the way

by unidentifiable voices,

stripped of being the soldier

you always prided yourself on being;

nothing at all dramatic –

just the bleak, quiet, tedious,

bare-boned loneliness

of the immeasurable, unmarked terrain,

once you get down to it –

the work that must be done.

No one to share your trials, triumphs,

failures or whether the mission bears fruit,

not the least recognition given

except from God, perhaps, if He so deigns. 

O child of God, your every thought and utterance

binds you to the delusion under which you suffer.