Quote/Poem Spare a Thought

[John A Silkstone]

Spare a thought

Thought this was appropriate for this time of year.


’TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE
MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A BRITISH SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN’T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON’T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE"

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.

I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

This is not my poem, but there are two reasons you are reading it.
1) is the internet.
2) Is a soldier give you the freedom to do so.

Silky

 

[Bombardier]

You know silky , that was a great poem and very meaningful. How many old soldiers do you think there are in the world that live in misery, alone and forgotten......jesus!, just imagining the size of this problem really pisses me off but im not sure what we can do about it ?

Something else that always seems strange to me, and at this point im assuming that that poem was created by an American?. Our US cousins always seem to express their emotions and pride better than we in the UK, in relation to their serving and ex serving military. I know that we have great poets who are well documented, but they are from the WW1 and WW2 era.

I dont think I have read a recent poem on the subject of honour,Loyalty,service to ones country and the affects of war on the mind. Im not saying that none have been written, I just havent found any as easily as I can relating to the US military.

I think the UK need a sharp wake up call, they need to forget that the reason the war/conflict is happening has nothing to do with the life of servitude our military live and the bravery that they so often display, moreso in todays demanding conditions.

Perhaps I should have posted this in 'Military Rants', I did not mean to take anything away from the truly touching poem you posted Silky and if I have then I apologise deeply.

Just my two penneths worth and simply an observation, Im sure others will have a different view and if so I will respect them for it.

UBIQUE !
Per Mare per Terram !

 

[John A Silkstone]

Bombardier, you rant on as much as you want, because you are right. However, as for poetry from the services I run a poetry site on http://www.servicepals.com/index.cfm//pcms/site.forum.forums/action/message/threadid/22467/page/27/ the poems are mostly from ex service people but the poems structure got changed when servicepals changed their system. It’s well worth a visit.

Silky

 

[Bombardier]

Well service Pals kinda comfirms my point, to read anything on servicePals you need to register, WHY?, Anybody can read anything here on MI.Net and the only time that you need to register is when you want to benefit from PM's etc, christ even a non member can post a message.

Why do service pals feel that the input from its members should only be seen by its members and not casual users ?