I shift from one scene to the next
until a beam of light paints the wall,
signaling unfinished business.
I rise, stiff and uncertain,
remembering when waking life
was an extension of the dream.
Eric Stephenson served in Alpha Company, 2/75th Ranger Battalion from 1982 to 1987. He has taught English at various colleges and universities since 1998 and is the publisher and editor-in-chief of US Represented, as well as a contributing writer.
Alice Randall drove along a desolate road amid the soaked barren wheat fields of northern Kansas. Stands of bare trees separated neighboring properties. Every so…