A Soldier's Christmas

(Thank You, Carolyn for this “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 on 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 slumbered I...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 Trooper...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,

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 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 and he 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 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, “harbour no fright;

Your family is waiting and I'll be alright.”

“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.”

Christmas will be coming soon...

and some credit is due to our service men and women

for our being able to celebrate these festivities.

Stop and Think...of our heroes (living and dead)

who sacrifice(d) themselves for us.”

Merle Baird-Kerr...documented December 15, 2013

To comment...e-mail...inezkate@gmail.com

or...mbairdkerr@cogeco.ca