Sneak Peek 2: Remnants to Recent Years (1988-2012)

Every year, C.M. Simpson gathers up the short stories, flash fiction and poetry she’s written, published, or prepared for publishing, and puts them into a single volume. This year, there are two volumes. The first volume consists of all the work, C.M. has re-discovered from her early years of writing.

As C.M. explains at the beginning of each volume “poems and short stories form the playground I use to explore ways of putting words on paper to create different effects” and each volume contains a variety of styles and subjects, accompanied by what it was that inspired her at the time. This piece was inspired by warriors returning from war.

Rest, my Warrior. Sleep.

Again, I’m not sure where the inspiration came for this poem. It was written on 19 August 2003. I want to dedicate it to the returning servicemen, who deserve to have someone watch for them when they return from war zones. Here’s hoping some of you can finally sleep and wake knowing no harm has come to you or yours.

Now you can sleep,

rest bones grown weary,

rest your mind from thoughts,

from watchfulness,

being wary.

Sleep,

in the knowledge

that your watch will be kept,

that nothing will come undone

because you lay down and slept.

Let our hands hold the weapons.

Let our eyes guard the dark.

Let our ears hark to footsteps

that don’t tread our path

Let us be the watchmen

as you lie down and sleep,

you who have watched for us,

when the dark was most deep.