Come Home Soldier by Christina Ciufo

American flag, half mass with
thin canary lights 
penetrating through its creases, 
waving, while he solemnly walked down
the paved road, with his 
head half-lowered, veiled by 
the flag’s shadow. 

Green eyes dimmed, 
like a melancholy flame on a lighter, 
cast shattered remints of his sanity. 
Flashing thoughts, like the English Channel’s 
restless waves pounding against the sands, 
remembering dense air, salty waters, wallowing
against Higgins boat, 
assailing upon Normandy’s shores. 

Dirt covered, torn hunter satchel
dangles across his widen back, 
carrying his turmoil, scars, and 
memories of scattered body parts of his fallen brothers in arms, 
across heated sands and boisterous gunfire.

Heavy, dirt-covered black boots, 
scuffling against the black tar, weary 
and unhinged, returning to mundane 
civilian life, he had left for bloodshed. 

Rows of homes, with inflated Santa Clauses, 
animatronic reindeer on the lawns, 
and white Christmas lights, 
coiled around the homes’ exteriors, its’ lights
shimmer onto the windows, 
revealing unfamiliar faces
living in these homes. 

His black boots scuffled in pure, white snow, 
towards a home’s window and place his 
hand onto the clear glass, only 
gazing at a pale phantom’s reflection. 

Remints of sand and blood, 
imprinted in the snow
by heavy, dirt-covered black boots
of a solider come home. 

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Christina Ciufo is a passionate writer in poetry, short stories, flash fictions, fables, and completing her first novel. At a very young age, she always had a passion for writing stories and poems, specifically in fairytales, folklore, supernatural, and horror. After graduating Sacred Heart University with a BA in English, she continued to expand her writing abilities at Manhattanville College’s MFA Creative Writing Program and by May 2017, graduated with an MFA degree in Creative Writing. She has recently completed Sacred Heart University’s Education Program in December 2018 with a MAT in Teaching in both elementary and secondary and is currently a Sunday School Teacher at St. Timothy’s in Fairfield. She gained her first publication in May 2019 in Pub House Books’ Gravitas for her three poems. She has two other poems, which will be published in Curating Alexandria and Ovunque Siamo in September 2019.