Joshua Michael Dean Iwasko

Heart of the Hero

By: Kyle Knapp

For Josh

Not every battlefield is made up of bombs bursting in air.

Not every war is fought on a distant field,

Sometimes it’s fought in our homes.

Sometimes the war is in ourselves. 

It can be in our friends, our family, and our hearts.

For none knows better than He who has suffered.

The suffering that haunts Him more than any apparition.

Suffering that takes form of all apprehensions, and takes it to the core.

For it is His loss, abuse, and solemn loneliness.

The loss causes silence

Not the kind of silence of a room or a voice,

But the cold.

It’s not the kind that wind creates, or a blizzard summons,

But the feeling that is the avalanche. 

As it carries Him away into the cold unknown, He numbs from its chill.

It seeps into His heart, and fills it with snow.

As the snow reaches its destination, it melts in victory.

That is why He cries.

The abuse created scars.

Not the kind that bleeds and can heal,

But the kind that wounds his words when he speaks.

It’s the kind that made the way he walks,

Or the way he speaks.

It is hiding in plain sight,

Yet no one chooses to see it.

For He is a window,

Open, and yet closed.

Open and transparent, yet barricaded into submission.

Able to see the world, and never grasp it.

Seen only by those with their hearts,

Not with their eyes,

He walks unseen.

Never to escape, or walk through the barrier,

He sighs.

That is why He lies.

The loneliness created isolation.

For not every prison has metal bars,

Some carry it with them wherever they go.

He created it not to contain,

But to protect.

To shield Himself from the pain,

Or the sound of silence.

For He trusts in himself,

Not in others who have forsaken Him.

For the world is cruel,

And people are the violence.

The violence that caused His imprisonment,

That caged him inside Himself.

The violence that is melting the planet,

And causing atrocities among the peace.

The silence caused speaks louder than any words.

That is why He is in pain.

Through the tears from His loss,

He gains serenity.

Through the lies from His abuse,

He sees truth.

From the pain of his loneliness,

He gains strength.

He wants to protect people while wearing green camo,

And fighting for the peace he found.

With this weight upon His shoulders, He fights.

He fights for those who don’t have His strength.

He fights to protect those from the truth that bruised Him.

He fights so others don’t need to experience pain of any sort.

His name doesn’t matter

For He is my hero.

Not the hero we asked for,

But the hero we deserve.