A Soldier's Christmas

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 eye 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 Marine huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, 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 eye 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, "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 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’s 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 fox hole with little to eat,
I can carry the weight of killing another
or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
who stand at the front against any and all,
to ensure for all times that this flag will not fall.
O 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 all seems too little for all that you’ve done,
for being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled with a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
to fight for our rights back 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."

~ Michael Marks ~
December 7, 2000

This is a brief poem I wrote to extend my sincere appreciation
and holiday wishes to active and former members of the Armed
Forces, and to share a bit of love and holiday spirit. Please feel
free, if you see fit, to post or forward this poem in any form or
venue with my blessings. Thanks for helping to share the holiday
spirit and the thanks of a grateful nation.
Warmest wishes,
Michael Marks