A safe place.

Ignis auram probat, miseria fortes homines

An unseen arm pulls me out,

Of my slumber

Marking yet another failed attempt

To beget a proper sleep

"My mind ails me, my dear

For many a sleepless night, I lay

Nightmares fill the void of lost dreams.

A sense of great fear,

Like a leech, tugging at my

Fragile sanity

Sucking me dry."

I tell my wife,

Who now lay awake, beside me

Her immaculate face

Now bore a guise of concern.

Resting her palm ,

On my sweat borne chest

Her lips met mine,

Nursing me back to my acuity.

"Worry not , my husband

You are safe here,

In thine own home,

Away from the heat 

Of the raging battle

Where mad men reign supreme.

Worry not , my husband

For i am here with you

To share thine pain,

To share thine burden,

As we had once promised

In holy matrimony.

Caressing her soft delicate hands

In mine

I confess to her, my deepest 

 fears.

" It is not for my life 

That I fear, my love

But for that of our child.

The world is no longer 

A safe place

For a child so innocent.

A cruel world plunged into chaos 

by cruel men.

A pestilence eating away

At the very fabric of our society.

How can our child

Survive in this failed world?"

Placing a single finger

On my lips

She silences my rambling.

" Fear burns through my heart

  As well

  For have i not shared with thee

Thine sleepless nights.

Our fears, truly 

Are justified.

T'is indeed a mad world

Ruled by mad men

And herein lies our duty

As guardians of our progeny

To prepare him to face 

The perils of life and this world.

Do not let thine fear 

Cloud thine sense of duty

For our child must

Remain strong

As he trudges through

The path of his choosing.

To teach him to become 

A man of honour,

Sans odium

And none is more suited

To the task, than you

My dear husband

For you are an honourable man.

Like gold tempered by fire

A man of strength , you are

Tempered by thine suffering.

Impart these to our child

And let him walk

His destined path

Headstrong."

Reviews

[Reed]

The cruelty of this world equals with those worst.nightmares we have sometimes...
Especially, when you fear first not yourself, but a loved one.
Well done!

[Joel Armstrong]

Thank you my friend : )

[Reed]

I promised five reviews, on that piece... Well, I'm a man of my word. You are welcome.

[Joel Armstrong]

Indeed you are .
But I didn't do it for the reviews. I did it because I loved the poem and I want Danny to come back.
Thank you.: )

[Reed]

No explanation needed. Did I promise? Yes? Then I shall keep my promise. Whatever you did it for, depends on your conscience.
I only wanted people to do that for him.

[Tomoe Tellez]

This is very beautiful, and has become my favorite of all your poems, I just love the way you used old English, it's full of a great source of emotion and love from both the husband and his wife and towards their child. Very amazing poetry my friend.

[Joel Armstrong]

Thank you my friend.: )

[CA Anurag Sharma]

" It is not for my life
That I fear, my love
But for that of our child.
The world is no longer
A safe place
For a child so innocent.
A cruel world plunged into chaos
by cruel men.
A pestilence eating away
At the very fabric of our society.
How can our child
Survive in this failed world?"

can easily relate to those tolerance and intolerance debates going around....
Good write nevertheless ...the last para did send a strong message...

[Kathryn Desautels]

It was okay. In my opinion there is too much detail and it kind of ushes the reader away from the auctual story of the poem. Good work though!

[mournful bear]

that was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is also the mentality i have of society, it's lost, yet i do not have someone to render it to! keep me coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! blessings be w/ you!

[Armanis]

This is a very interesting poem, and the way it is written it is very smooth. I noticed some minor grammar mistakes that should be addressed, like lack of commas before quotation marks, and you typed "A" when I think you meant I? Unless that was intentional.
Also, I kind of feel as if this would be better as a short story or a memoir.

[McBear]

This is very good! Even though I am not very good at old english, haha.

Critique: After commas, make sure you use a lower case letter.

[Joel Armstrong]

Thank you for the review my friend .

[Dani The Unreviewed]

Awesome, like always, i fancy tha old English.
and the convo of two responsible parents (who are becoming a rare sight) is really showing, a true form of love, towards their kid.

Nicely done.

[Joel Armstrong]

Thank you Danny : )

[Dani The Unreviewed]

You're welcome. :)

[ANTO]

Behind every great man there truly is a great woman. The way the mother assures the father in this is tender and filled with love. So easy to imagine in this age of turmoil, the same conversation on pillows the world over.
Very good writing Joel.