A Christmas message received by E-Mail:
Subject: Fw: A Christmas Poem>>>>>>>This was sent to me this evening by a friend who has stood on the wall >>>and>>>who had a brother that did not come home from a Canadian "Peace Keeping>>>Mission".>>>>>> It is quite timely I thought considering we have lost 3 more>>>good people this week.>>>>>>Dan>>>>>>>>>>>>"Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice" - Winston>>>Churchill>>>>>>>>>>>> A Different Christmas Poem>>>>>> The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,>>> I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.>>> My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,>>> My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.>>> Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,>>> Transforming the yard to a winter delight.>>>>>>>>>>>> The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,>>> Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.>>> My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,>>> Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.>>> In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,>>> So slumbered I, perhaps I started to dream.>>>>>> The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,>>> But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.>>> Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the>>> sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.>>> My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,>>> And I crept to the door just to see who was near.>>> Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,>>> A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.>>>>>> A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,>>> Perhaps a Ranger, huddled here in the cold.>>> Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,>>> Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.>>> "What are you doing?" I asked without fear,>>> "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!>>> Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,>>> You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!">>>>>> For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,>>> Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.>>> To the window that danced with a warm fire's light>>> Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,>>> I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.">>>>>> "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,>>> That separates you from the darkest of times.>>> No one had to ask or beg or implore me,>>> I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.>>> My Gramps died in Europe on a day in December,">>> Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.">>> My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',>>> And now it is my turn and so, here I am.>>> I've not seen my own son in more than a while,>>> But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.>>>>>> Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,>>> The red and the white ... a Canadian flag.>>> I can live through the cold and the being alone,>>> Away from my family, my house and my home.>>> I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,>>> I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.>>> I can carry the weight of killing another,>>> Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.>>> Who stand at the front against any and all,>>> To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.">>>>>> "So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,>>> Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.">>> "But isn't there something I can do, at the least,>>> "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?>>> It seems all too little for all that you've done,>>> For being away from your wife and your son.">>> Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,>>> "Just tell us you love us, and never forget.>>> To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,>>> To stand your own watch, no matter how long.>>> For when we come home, either standing or dead,>>> To know you remember we fought and we bled.>>> Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,>>> That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.">>>>>> |
