Chapter XXXVI

The Joys of a Soldier

When you take your boots off

At the end of a day and the

World is a little better than

You found it that morning.

When you come home to your

Family, and you know they will

Never have to fight the war you

Did.

The scar from the shrapnel that

Only nicked the skin and failed

To pierce the muscle. The steady

Gaze in your eyes of being home

Sick and wanting a better world.

Through it all, the knife you

Carried, the knife you were,

The men you didn’t lose.

They would have followed you

Into hell, just to be at your side.

The joys of a soldier in a better

World, where those boots don’t have

To hit the ground again.

Those young eyes that will never have

To see what you did. Maybe the war will

Be a thing of the past, but always your

Past. The joy of peace is what you crave.

In a machine that brews hate, the free ground

You stand upon for all men makes the pain

Feel worthy of your time.

- winter 2015