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December 08, 2008
A 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,
He was huddled outside but near 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 "Its 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."
PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum , Iraq.
Posted by Wild Thing at December 8, 2008 05:45 AM
Comments
That was wonderful. I will post and also forward. Thanks WT and a special thanks to LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN, and all of our troops at home and abroad.
Bob A.
Posted by: Bob A at December 8, 2008 06:50 AM
"Thank-you Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmen for your selflessness and love of country! Freedom is not free." - Saint Nicholas,
Santa Claus and Father Christmas!
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at December 8, 2008 09:03 AM
Chrissie. Thank you for posting this, not this.
Thank you to all the military serving abroad and stateside for all you do. A special thank you to the parents, sons and daughters of Team Theodore.
You each deserve better.
Posted by: Jack at December 8, 2008 09:30 AM
Beautiful poem.
Thanks to all who have ever served and to their families for the sacrifices.
Posted by: TomR at December 8, 2008 11:34 AM
A very awesome poem Chrissie!!! I'm so glad that you posted it here for all to see and read. I will definitely pass this on to all that I know!!
And "Thank You" to all here who have served before, are serving now, and those that will serve in the future!!! Without your unselfish service, your love of Freedom and Country, and your sense of Duty to God and Country, we wouldn't be writing on this wonderful blog called "Theodore's World"!!!! May God bless and keep each and every one of you!!!!
Posted by: John at December 8, 2008 12:12 PM
