The embers glowed softly, and in this dim light
I gazed round the room and cherished the sight
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest
Outside the snow fell, in a blanket of white
Transforming the lawn to a winter delight.
* * * * *
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe
Complete the Magic that is Christmas Eve
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing so deep
Secure and surrounded by Love, I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem
So slumbered, perhaps, I started to dream.
* * * * *
The sound wasn't loud and it wasn't near
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know
Then the sound of footsteps, outside in the snow
My Soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear
And I crept to the door 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 olde
Perhaps a Trooper, huddled here in the cold
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled
Standing watch over me, 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 the drifts.
* * * * *
He looked 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, beg, or implore me
I'm Proud to stand here, like my Father's before me
My Gramps died in Europe, on a day in December
Then he said,"That's a Christmas Gram always remembers"
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 down and carefully pulled from his bag
The Red, White, and Blue, 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 a Sister and Brother
Who Stand at the Front with Any and All
To Ensure for all Time ~ this Flag will not fall."
* * * * *
"So go back inside, he said, harbour no fright
Your Family is waiting and it'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'll 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.
* * * * *
* * * * *
~ Christmas will be coming soon and much credit
is due to our Service Men and Women, for our being able to celebrate
these Festivities.
Let's pay a bit of what we owe...
As a People, and as a Nation ~
stop and think of our Heroes, living and dead,
who sacrificed themselves, for us.
Remember, the greatest thing we can do
for our Men and Women, in Uniform,
is to pray daily for their safety
and the end to hostilities.
We must pray for their Families
who are also making
sacrifices, for us.
+
~Merry Christmas!
~Beannaichte'
1 December, 2015
SemperFi
stop and think of our Heroes, living and dead,
who sacrificed themselves, for us.
Remember, the greatest thing we can do
for our Men and Women, in Uniform,
is to pray daily for their safety
and the end to hostilities.
We must pray for their Families
who are also making
sacrifices, for us.
+
~Merry Christmas!
~Beannaichte'
1 December, 2015
SemperFi
@beannaichte.twitter.com
