My Uncle, My Hero

A husband, a father, an uncle, a son A soldier, a brother, a man and a boy Never one or the other, united, just one His boyhood was lost too soon in the war His manhood affected by all that he saw His dotage came early, yet longevity reigned He shed tears for his father, shed tears for his son The tears of a man cried by a boy Tears for the boy wept by the man Haunted by a past he longed to forget, Surrounded by the life that somehow seemed set Yet speeding towards a future he was unwilling to greet Hidden within the old man’s body, bravely the boy still lived And for a fleeting moment a glint in his eye revealed, In the innocence of youth his carefree spirit prevailed