Soldier Boy

Soldier Boy”



He left a boy -
That young man 
Whose face held the last vestiges of freckles
From summers spent tramping about
The countryside on sunny afternoons.

He left a boy -
That proud young soldier
Who brushed away the mother’s desperate grasp
Who bade him promise a safe return.

He left a boy -
That stalwart young man
Whose father’s strong embrace
Foretold his fear of what lay ahead.

He left a boy - 
That handsome young husband
Who concealed his fear 
From an anxious bride
Whose tearstained cheek 
Begged him caution on those foreign shores.

He left a boy -
As he held his young son 
Close to his breast
And inhaled the memory of him
For safekeeping.

He left a boy -
With noble thoughts
Of all those righteous deeds
That he might undertake
To defend his loved ones
Here and now and yet to come.

He left a boy -
In innocent guile 
Not knowing the friends he would lose,
Not knowing the Hand of Death
That would reach out to him
Night after night
In that cold bitter place.

He left a boy -
Unmindful of the torments of war,
The disillusionment of fighting the battles
That never seemed to end,
The bitter loneliness of a home so far removed,
The fragrant memories of a misspent youth
That had deceived him into thinking
He would always be safe.

Yes, he left a boy -
To become a soldier,
A warrior
Who would struggle every day
For what he knew to be right
To just become a Man…..



Jb pearce
For Veterans Day
November 11-2019

patrioticsoldierwarfree verse

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