You knew you had been there way to long,

when remembrance of home you couldn't find,

or in your dreams the ones you loved,

their faces were just a blur in your mind.

The only goals you now could see,

was the survival through another day,

You had prayed to God so many times,

your words dried up and were carried away.

When in every cold corpse you could see your own face,

and still peace could not be found,

Somehow the sanctity of perseverance,

lay stretched out before you on hell's bloody ground.

You heard the voices that told you the tales,

but wasn't sure they were delivered by the living,

Suddenly your own heartbeat echoed about the jungle,

and it was the only signs of life you would be receiving.

Death would begin to look like a sunny vacation,

one in which you would feel you earned,

When wiping from your face the memory of your best friend,

your mind wouldn't allow your stomach to churn.

There was a part of you that knew you'd been beat,

and it was hidden between the shadows and the jungle's edge,

Before you were again capable of civilized thoughts,

You'd have to throw yourself from the highest ledge.

For most too long was five minutes after they arrived,

five months later they were usually dead,

Even if they still possessed an active heartbeat,

it was the cruelty of war that filled their heads.

You knew you'd been there way to long,

when you saw life as a reflection in a dead man's eyes,

And all you could do was stand and stare,

but who you saw you could no longer recognize.