It’s 9:15
I’m climbing up into morning
Lungs are screaming for air
Enshrouded shapes are forming
I see his vacant stare
I heard him calling on the radio
First one this year
We couldn’t reach him through blinding snow
He pushed too hard
That’s what everybody said
It snowed three days, he must be dead.

I’m trying to break through
I am reaching for the sky
I am frayed, torn in two
Through fields of the fallen
Lost in the gray

It’s 4:18
Every step brings me homeward
Through the valley of death
There he sits like monument
I blame myself
For lack of endeavor
I must press on
Lest I become another
If I slow down my heart may shatter from within
No, I will not become him.

I’m trying to break through
I am reaching for the sky
My lips are cracked, bleeding blue
I’m still calling for you
My arms stretch toward you
I want to look you in the eye
Spread your wings won’t you, over the fallen?
Lost in the gray