Undreamt Combat

In a summer's sweet moment, beneath a blistering sky

Stuck in the middle of a time not our choosing

Lost in the crowd, were you and I

Little to be done about what we were losing

There we stood, trying to still our beating hearts

Watching the world, so grim as it did unfold

It all came crashing down in a million metaphorical parts

Becoming but a history, a story to be told

From beneath all of that painful suffering and blood

Witnessing the birth of such a bond

They clashed together, challenging enemies in the same mud

Children of summer wouldn't have been hurt around a pond

But they were forged into the strong

Learning that often violent thrill

They found each other and a place where they all did belong

As they one by one experienced that awesome thrill of the kill

Not everyone made it off the field of battle that day unscathed

Even those of us who were along the edges, near those and their glory

It's hard to believe that all that was for little, and all day they'd be unbathed

But that's a different story

Because after the war was over and the battle finally done

Mother told me that they'd all been friends

As grueling as the challenge, spiking that ball was in fun

And they'd drink their aches and pains away until the night ends

Ah, the challenges of summer

And what we did lose out there

Only the time was lost, not much of a bummer

Because we watched in awe, we watched my father, to be fair

And all the parts that fell apart

Were only childish wishes of some ten-year-old

I'd known we were to watch the games from the start

But the sounds, they were calling me, and the smells of food so bold

The games were held at this thing

You've likely heard the word carried through the air

It probably has a familiar ring

We were at the county fair