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Topic: Poem anyone?

ohdagagain
Member

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posted

Maybe a little too early for a Christmas poem, but I like it.

A Soldier's Christmas

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep

in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,

to the window that danced with a warm fire's light

then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night"

"Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red white and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home,

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,

I can carry the weight of killing another

or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers

who stand at the front against any and all,

To insure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

"Give you money," I asked,"or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

to know you remember we fought and we bled

is payment enough, and with that we will trust.

That we mattered to you as much as you mattered to us.

Michael Marks

marksman@patriot.net

--------------------
Damn, if he wasn't right.

Posts: 391 | From: Tallinn, Estonia | Registered: Aug 2004 | IP: Logged |

HILANDER
Member

Member Rated:

posted

Pretty awesome ohdagagain. Thanks from someone who's been doing the Soldier/Marine thing for almost twenty years.

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If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

Posts: 1529 | From: Tacoma WA | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged |

lilpennypincher
Member

Member Rated:

posted

That was awesome. Thanks for sharing.

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Lil,

Dont LOSE more than you can afford to invest....LOL

I'm buying low and selling into the run...

Posts: 8024 | From: Joisey....see attitude above | Registered: Jan 2004 | IP: Logged |

T e x
Member

posted

Strong: helps clarify the emotions we civilians struggle with over "ambition" versus "duty."

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Nashoba Holba Chepulechi
Adventures in microcapitalism...

Posts: 21062 | From: Fort Worth | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged |

glassman
Member

posted

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.

been trying....

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Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003 | IP: Logged |

Krysten911
Member

posted

Selfish

Modus opperandus
intricate creature of reckless nature
highly intelligent
inept sense of self and soul
compassionate beyond feeling
ambitiously furious
fast
knows no reason
seats of the soul
through days still untold
wander on
I want it all
the fire
the speed
the fast and the furious
and all other great deeds
but
I also want
the love
the compassion
the touch
no less
than for all
of time
a blink of an eye
a different breed
no different than me
selfish
because
I want time
and I want life
I want it all
and you beside me

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Life only has so many choices, choose wisely.

Posts: 97 | From: California | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged |

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