conway
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Posts: 69
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>>Subject: A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
Author Unkown
>>
>>
>>
>>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 Canadian, 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 'Dieppe on a day in December,"
>>Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas Gram always remembers."
>>
>>
>>"My dad stood his watch in that Korean Land,
>>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,
>>Something red and white,...a Canadian 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 trench 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."
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WOW, very touching and very well written. Thanks and Pro Patria.