SOLDIER BOY

SOLDIER BOY

Jonathan stood near the woods at sunset,

awaiting her gentle step.

He fiddled nervously with his tricorn hat,

‘How to tell her? Yet tell her I must.’

A leaf crackled. A twig snapped. He turned.

She rushed into his arms.

“Jenny, dearest one, I’ve come to say goodbye.”

He stifled a cry from her lips with a kiss.

“If we’re to be a new land, I must serve.”

Jonathan wasn’t the last in his line.

After him would come many –

Johnny and Sam stood with Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.

Jasper and Arnold marched to Mexico with Taylor, never to return.

Brady stood with the Union, until he fell at Bull Run.

Ambrose survived shot and ball right up to that moment at Shiloh.

Jim and Mark, on opposite sides, both left their blood at Gettysburg.

Martin charged up San Juan Hill behind TR, but he never walked down.

Arthur became nineteen forever one eve in Belleau Wood.

Larry never made it off the beach at Anzio,

while Clint lay in the sand of Tarawa.

Tommy found a land mine on Pork Chop Hill.

Jake rode a chopper down over the Ho Chi Minh trail;

Phil was in a bunker at Banmethout; it became his home forever.

Winston went to Desert Storm in ’91, hit a buried mine, he lies there still.

Jon stood outside the Mall, waiting for Jennifer to pick him up.

She wasn’t going to be happy with what he had to say,

But he couldn’t avoid saying it. Tomorrow he was headed for Iraq.

A small red car pulled up and she jumped out, running into his arms.

“Jenny, I …” She hushed him with a kiss.

“Jon, I’ve got to tell you something. My guard unit has been called up.

We’ll be in Iraq by the end of next week.”

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