My Soldier, My Son

(his war against childhood mental illness)

At war, voices of authority command him to act.
He seeks to draw blood, maim and alter the plans
of what went before, leaving a barren field
where dreams once grew green and reached for sun.
Napalm spreads quickly beneath the shelter of skull.

At peace, he rests his head on my weary shoulder.
Watching the tv flicker more slowly than his thoughts,
he snuggles closer now, at ease, a soldier on furlough.
from foxholes of fear, where the commander in chief is silenced
only by the cease-fire of chemicals in his brain.

Drafted into an army of darkness, he listens
for marching orders again. A foot soldier
for perseverance, he hurries then waits,
unaware of how this stint will become a career
with no Purple Heart and no heroes parade.

Incoming, incoming, thoughts and voices arrive,
storming the beach with heavy artillery,
they will take no prisoners
but will hold this family hostage.
My son, missing in action for three years,
waves his own flag but will never surrender
to the winds of war whispering through him.

Diane Funston most recently has been the Yuba-Sutter Arts and Culture Poet-in-Residence. It is in this role she created Poetry Square, a monthly online venue that features poets from all over the world reading their work and discussing creative process. Diane has been published in Synkronicity, California Quarterly, Whirlwind, San Diego Poetry Annual, Summation, and quite a few other literary journals. Her first chapbook, “Over the Falls” was published this July 2022 from Foothills Publishing.