For Bread and Country

Line upon line the troops stood straight In late season sun they stand and wait With magazines filled with ammunition Not with bullets but with good nutrition These troops stand with feather in cap Full of purpose and flowing with sap Yet soon inevitably they are to fall As they grow big and they grow tall Then, quite fearlessly they give their life To die for country, kids and wife Yet to die so that all may flourish As their bodies feed and nourish And so the seasons pass For these troops of tallest grass Unsung heroes that sacrifice all When in autumn they die and fall But are our lives not the same? As in sacrifice there is no shame