#1
cherished stuffed rabbit
shabby from loving, tossed out
sheds tear, becomes real.

#2
Wartime
soldiers soldier on
enduring violence
degradation
defeat
Superior Officers
look elsewhere
for victory
trading lives for ambition
numbers of bombing missions
for letters to mothers
To call the situation crazy
is normal
To feign insanity
is not believable
This is the Catch-22
To stay alive
is a trade
with death
and your closest comrades
To escape
requires more than cunning
it requires you to master
the very machinery
that keeps you
at your mercy
And in this last mission
your very life
and the lives of those in your squadron
demand your success.