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A Walk with Grandfather |
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Out walking small hand in large hand
Grandpa and
little Jim trekked the land
Out in the field where
the hill starts to crest
Two figures large and small
stopped to rest
The small boy looked up and said
"What did you do in the war, Granddad'
The older man
hearing this dropped his shield
Remembering things that
had never healed
He stood quiet and remembered with
wrinkled brow
Suddenly he was transported from the here
and now
The weight of these memories causing him to
bow
To give this boy an answer he didn't know how
He remembered the smoky battles, the drying blood
The
jungle heat, the eternal rain, the slimy mud
It
seemed those things would never end
He still hears the
screams of dying men
Friends dead in the blink of an
eye
Still even now his soul asks why, why
What was
won did not balance what was lost
There isn't anyone on
earth can total the cost
He thought he'd never see
again these fields of home
He had been afraid his
children would grow up alone
Looking down at the
young innocent boy
The grandfather decided on another
ploy
Not wishing yet to visit the horror of war on
him
He said only "Why, I did what a soldier does, Jim" |
By Faye Sizemore
Copyright 2002
Listed
April 27, 2011 |
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About
Author...
Faye Sizemore makes her home in the beautiful foothills of South Carolina with Grant, the love of her life, as well as three dogs, two cats, two parakeets and four nanny goats. Grant is a Vietnam Veteran having served with the US Marines in 1968-69 and is, of course, Faye's muse. Faye is deeply interested in Veterans' Affairs and Veterans' Causes. She is very proud of Grant and her poetry is an off-shoot of that pride.
Visit
Faye Sizemore's site for more information
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