Good 'poem' forwarded to me.

[87gnblackdemon]

Standing Watch


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,

mydaughter beside me, angelic in rest.


Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transformingthe yard to a winter delight.


The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,

Completedthe magic that was Christmas Eve.


My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secureand surrounded by love I would sleep

in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.

So I slumbered, perhapsI 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,

Thenthe 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 yearsold

perhapsa Marine, huddled here in the cold.


Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

standingwatch over me, and my wife and my child.


"What are you doing?" I asked withoutfear

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


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

youshould be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"


For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

awayfrom 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,

thatseparates you from the darkest of times.


No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'mproud to stand here like my fathers before me.


My Gramps died at 'Pearlon 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

Yourfamily 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,

Forbeing 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 you mattered to us.


WE ALL NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL EVERY NIGHT, THEY ARE IN SOME VERYVERYTIGHT PLACES

 

[Gary Wells]

Something so beautifully penned should not be allowed to go unauthored. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[soonergn]

I agree. Very well done. I'm fixing my flag pole this weekend and putting the flag back out.