Phil Kadow

SOLDIERS

Awarded: November 10, 2003Can you hear the sound of soldiers?
Marching off to war
A thousand miles away
From their homes and shore

They answered the call of their country
Without a whinge or whine
To fight for everyone’s freedom
No matter how thin the line

They think nothing of their safety
But always of their mates
For without them they would be lost
Or suffering some worse fate

At first it seems an adventure
To land on a foreign shore
But too soon they become accustomed
To the realities of war

If they are lucky to survive
And come home at the end
Their families will soon notice
That they are different men

At night there are the nightmares
And the flashbacks so full of life
That they can’t wait until the morning
When there seems much less strife

They have trouble talking to strangers
Who weren’t there at the time?
So they keep much to themselves
And to them they think its fine

To them what they did was important
And shouldn’t be forgotten
But not to the point
When it turns their lives rotten

To be proud of what they did
Should let them stand up tall
But not let it be
Their life’s all

They need to keep on going
With their daily lives
And concentrate on the future
With this very thought in mind

That they can keep on going
Without ever giving up
And thank their Guardian Angel
For giving them good luck