The Body Keeps the Battlefield

My mind can leave the war behind, But my body keeps the map. It knows the sound of incoming fire, Knows the weight of the blast. It hides it in my shoulders, It stores it in my spine. It wakes before the sunrise Like we’re running out of time. My jaw stays locked from battles That no one else can see. My hands still know the shaking Of the man I used to be. I tell myself I’m safe now. I know the room is still. But bones remember orders That the heart can’t simply will. The body keeps the battlefield, The smoke beneath the skin. The war may lose its uniform, But it finds its way back in. Every flinch, every sleepless night, Every ache I never named, Is a soldier still returning From the fire and the flame. There’s thunder in my bloodstream When the night gets loud again. Adrenaline like broken glass Running underneath my skin. I wake up sore from memories, Like I fought them in my sleep. Like some buried part of me Still has promises to keep. The world says, “You are home now,” But home is not a place When the war learned how to live Behind your eyes and in your face. So I walk slow through the morning. I let the shaking pass. I speak peace to the body That survived what should not last. Lord, bless these tired bones. Bless this guarded chest. Bless the man who made it home But never learned to rest. Touch the places language missed, The wounds beneath the years. Meet me in the muscle, In the trembling, in the tears. Teach my hands to open. Teach my lungs to breathe. Teach my body mercy Until my soul believes. I am not just damage. I am not just pain. I am not the old alarm That keeps calling out my name. I am flesh still being gathered. I am breath still being drawn. I am proof that even wounded men Can live to see the dawn. So when the ache comes rising, I won’t call myself weak. Some wars leave their language Where the body has to speak. And I will listen gently To what survival tried to shield. I’m still coming home From the body’s battlefield. The body keeps the battlefield, But God keeps holding me. And every breath I take today Is one more victory.