Waiting For Dawn

• Ava Bradley, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2017

Like a blue blanket of tranquillity, specks of sunlight coruscate amongst the sea’s slow-moving water.
Peacefully cascading, small waves roll and tumble,
Oblivious, to the fated trauma ahead.
Men, close as brothers, prepare aboard their small vessels.
Tossed about like ants in a gale by unprecedented winds.
As they arrive and begin climbing the rugged beaches of their island destination,
Many gunshots fire, as a few figures drop, before a heart-breaking thump follows them.
One terrified soul peers down to see the fallen below him, but, determined, he presses on.
Completing the climb, the young man cowers behind landforms
On the offensive, soldiers following barked orders move forward as one, as our youth regains faith.
Bouncing, bursting, bullets fire and fall like pepper on the earthy ground
Our young man crouches and covers, along with the rest of his squad, before emerging to attack.
A sound from behind, crushes his dreams, and crumbles his spirit.
Strength and stability disintegrate and are destroyed
He fires his final shot into the dark distance as he is swallowed by the abyss
Yet he rests, confident that no matter what, time will dance on til the sunrise carries peace, and basks the earth in it’s warmth.