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That Other Place |
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Down through all the mourning years
Fortunately, I
have come to find,
Untouched by echoes of recurring fears
This special corner in my mind
Where demons do not
come to play
And plague my nights or fret my days
With
memories of that bygone fray.
One day, I heard a quiet
voice say:
"In this place gloom may not exist;
This is for those who did not die.
There's no need to sit
and list
Comrades for whom we have to cry."
"Savor
the guitar lightly strummed,
Join in the games of pickup
ball
And snatches of song softly hummed;
Laze a while
on a sandbagged wall."
"Glittering stars in a black
velvet sky,
Blaze like gems in the tranquil night,
And
breezes soft as a baby's sigh
Bear no danger with the
fading light."
Brief those moments may have been
However, they did indeed exist.
Peaceful time spent with
friends,
Away from war's inhuman fist.
So, take
the time to search them out
From where you've hidden them
away;
They're still there, without a doubt
Ready to
soothe and brighten your day.
Look deep within, I'm
sure you'll find,
Green and bright and dappled with sun,
That peaceful corner in your mind...
I know that God made
more than one. |
By Thurman P. Woodfork
Copyright 2002, Revised 2006
Listed
March 5, 2011 |
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Author's Note: Dedicated to Garland Young,
who, at times, grows weary of sad songs.
About
Author...
Thurman P. Woodfork (Woody) spent his
Air Force career as a radar repairman in places as disparate as
Biloxi, Mississippi; Cut Bank, Montana; Tin City, Alaska; Rosas,
Spain and Tay Ninh, Vietnam. In Vietnam, he was assigned to
Detachment 7 of the 619th Tactical Control Squadron, a Forward Air
Command Post located on Trai Trang Sup. Trang Sup was an Army
Special Forces camp situated about fifty miles northwest of Saigon
in Tay Ninh province, close to the Cambodian border.
After Vietnam, Woody remained in the Air Force for nine more years.
Visit
Thurman P. Woodfork's site for more information
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