"A DIFFERENT KIND OF 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,
Perhaps a Marine, 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
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 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

"Real Integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that no body's going to know whether you did it or not. "

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Replies

  • I don't know about you but I believe it is time for Conservatives, Christians & All Patriotic freedom loving Americans to get off of facebook, twitter, google, youtube, yahoo & all left wing controlled social media & email sites and I also believe it is time for Conservatives, Christians & All Patriotic freedom loving Americans to find or come up with another way to communicate that is not controlled by The Government or The United Nations!!!

    • I like your suggeston Robert.........

    • OK, what would you suggest?

  • I agree with Robert as well.
    Thanks for posting the poem, Harry.

    Merry Christmas to all on this site.

    Wingwoman7772
  • I agree with Robert as well.
    Thanks for posting the poem, Harry.

    Merry Christmas to all on this site.

    Wingwoman7772
  • That's a beautiful poem, very nice.

    We should all be reminded that there are men and women of our Armed Services who are standing guard tonight and every night to protect all of us.
    GOD Bless each and every one of them. And May GOD protect them.

    Merry Christmas.

  • GREAT POEM, THANK YOU

  • This is lovely, and reminds us, that although we are warm & safe, that somewhere far away, someone is truly standing watch for us.   Maybe it is cold, and dreary, and a long ways from home, but a sacrifice is being made.  We are so grateful, not just for now, but for all, of the men & women, who have given their Lives over the many years. We retain our Freedom, because of them.  Hoping with a new President things will improve greatly, morale will come back up, and if they have to fight, with their New leader, they will know why and when.  Knowing he has their back.  God Bless & keep our Troops safe, now and always, and a Merry Christmas to all. We love you & pray for you, you are not alone.

  • Many thanks for this, Harry.  And Jeff.  And Evie.

    Lest We Forget, indeed.

  • Yes, Thank You Evie, for sharing this awesome poem.  Thank You Harry, and others for your site to distribute.  This poem imparts the essence of ultimate sacrifice, laced with Patriotism and National Pride.!  Just as particularly Christian Fathers, "Cover" their families,... Soldiers "Cover" both, their Country, as well as their families. God Bless Them All, .......Past and Present.  A Reverent Salute and Fervent Prayer of Protection, to each of them, and their Families, indeed....!!! Yes, a different kind of Merry Christmas!......Thank You....

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