Dreaming of Okinawa

When the soldier goes to bed at night,

And he closes his eyes.

He dreams of Okinawa,

And all the men that died.

The bullets flying over head,

With the sand at his feet,

He prayed that God would watch over him,

He had promises to keep.

Many soldiers lost their lives.

On one fateful day.

He found God on the Battlefield.

As she shouldered his rifle to pray.

He locked eyes with one maiden.

Before she leaped to her death.

He tried to forget her and move on,

Soon realizing that he never left.

Marching through her jungles,

Blind to her beautiful land.

But soldiers can't see beauty,

When death is close at hand.

When he thinks of Okinawa,

And her beautiful sandy shore.

He wondered if things were different?

Could he have done more?

To save his fallen comrades.

As they died one by one,

Was it worth all the human cost?

For the battle to be won?

His battle wounds have since healed.

But his heart remains on her shore.

The two will always be one in the same,

Okinawa and he, forever more.

© Sonya Dickerson 2015

I wrote this poem to every US and Allied soldier that fought in the Pacific Theatre. The fighting on this little island was ferocious...as it was on Saipan and Iwo Jima. I hope and pray that this world will find peace and war to be something we did in the past. I pray that our children's children can figure out how to live with each other in a global community without having to shed each other's blood.

Serial Me- New and Upcoming Book from Best-Selling Author Sonya Dickerson

New book from best-selling author, Sonya Dickerson

What would you do if there was a woman going around killing all the eligible and gorgeous men in your town? What would you do if you and that woman happened to look like twins?
Vanessa Johnson has it all as a Health and Fitness editor for a popular magazine; except a boyfriend and a body to die for.
Meanwhile a serial killer is on the loose in the city of Chicago causing mayhem and destruction everywhere she turns.
It isn't long before all fingers begin pointing at her. Vanessa must make a decision; watch her life go down the drain or help the police nab the killer before it's too late and she finds herself behind bars.

What made you decide to write this story?

it was just a silly idea i had. something that i had been pondering for quite some time. when i came up with the concept the story began to write itself.

Did you run into any issues that you'd like to share with your readers?

well it was a very difficult book to do. mixing comedy in with death isn't always easy. death and murder are sensitive subjects with people and i wanted to do it tasteful. my first screenplay was a dark comedy about suicide so i was treading on familiar ground. 

i wanted to make it funny because i enjoy writing comedies. 'stick with what you know' can be helpful advice for some writers but terrible advice for others. a really great writer should be able to write many different different genres without losing authenticity. once you get ahold to a character's voice, you can make them hilariously funny or tragically sad. shakespeare is a great example of his. he wrote many genres and did them in such an authentic voice that people still enjoy him to this day and will continue to do so.

What is your favorite Shakespeare play?

anyone that knows me knows that it's Macbeth.

Are you worried that you didn't portray your character Vanessa correctly? Meaning that because she is overweight, are you worried that people will think her character was too stereotypical? Or not authentic enough? I realize you like that word.

it really depends. and yes i like authenticity. i hope some people can relate to her and empathize. without that, then you really don't care WHAT happens to the character. if that happens then you haven't done your job. time to start over at that point. 

What would you like your readers to know about this book?

i had a lot of fun writing it and i hope you have just as much fun reading it.