Vigilant

There is a soldier in front of my heart.
"Halt," he tells them. "You are not to be here."
As they approach faster, he curses and fires faster than
Goya on the 3rd of May.
Bodies lay strewn across the dark landscape.

There is a knight in the foreground of my heart.
He attempts to be valiant and guide them in, but...
I stop him with Saracens and green ghosts.
His guided visitors become lost in a maze and never find the keys.

There is a soldier in front of my heart.
I hear him talking to me at night when the demons come.
"I cannot be here forever," he whispers.
"You must stand your ground, " I tell him, and then force him to fight
A large demon made of past regrets
Reeking of apologies, stale beer, and burned out cigarettes.

There is a knight in the foreground of my heart.
He carries a banner of misfortune.
Though he attempts to help those around me, he never wavers in his duty
of penance and piety.
To search for the heart's missing veil and mystifying menagerie of memories.

A soldier and a knight patrolling the grounds of a fractured landscape.
And when the floods come now and then, they survive on the high ground of hope.
They guard the entrances and exits and maintain peace.

Until the children of the mind can defeat them forever.