caryn

And here's the bit of not-so-good-verse I was looking for:

A Soldier (by actual me, is copyright, not published)

They say of me I knew no Fear,
Though fear was all I knew;
They say of me I loved my Flag,
Though it's not the Flag I miss;
They make of me Some One I'm not,
And ignore the One I Am.

And Yet I fight through every Day,
Though I would rather Rest,
For Fear and Loss and Emptiness Remain,
Within my ruined Breast,
And neither Scorn nor crowd's Acclaim,
Can make me turn Aside.

And so I go from Day to Day ,
Unbowed as best I may;
To pass the hours of this Watch,
To stand against The Night;
As long as Life and Breath Remain,
As long as I Endure;

Say not of me what good I did,
When killing was my task;
But measure rather all I did,
Against the lives I lost;
And tell me truth when others Lie,
And lighten so my grief.

And when at last I am Relieved,
And in my Flag go wrapped;
To you must pass that part of Me,
That fought on to the Last;
To stand and fight against the Tide,
Whatever "All" might do.

Then let no Other take from you,
My honour or my grief;
And make of them a Lamp to Light
The hours of the Night;
Then I will walk in sunlit fields,
And go no more Alone.

Remembrance Day 2007