A Soldiers Plea

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 garden 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 touched on my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My heart gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Out there 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,
No it’s a Royal 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 instant, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You shouldn't be out 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 "Its really all right,
I’m here out of choice. I'm here every night.
As I am on the days when the sun blazes bright,
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.
In France Grandad died one day in December,
’44 is a Christmas 'Gran will always remember.
My dad stood his watch in the Falklands one year,
Mum fought back her tears to give us Christmas cheer,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
Performing my duty with pride as a man.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white and blue that is our British Flag.
”I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my friends 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 protecting my brother.
We 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, "harbour 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, some bread or some meat”?
It seems very little for all that you do,
For being away from all you love and hold true?"

In 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 marching or dead,
To know you remember that we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you matter to us."

 

Marvelous Pam.....(massive lump in my throat)

 

Amen,
Pam,
Jenny