A
Different Christmas Poem
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 eyes 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."
"It's 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 sister and brother..
Who stand
at the front against any and all,
To ensure
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 you mattered to us."
