"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 "It's 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. "
Gar Wright
(cell) 619-733-3309
(fax) 619-435-0747
gar.wright77@xxxxxxxxx
