[AT] Fwd: A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM

[Bill Brueck]

Thanks for posting; very touching.  

B²
 
Bill Brueck (brick)
Chatfield, MN, USA
 
Confusion is a higher state of knowledge than ignorance.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Richard Fink Sr
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 9:25 AM
To: antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: [AT] Fwd: A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM


>
>
>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 I slumbered,  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  Marine, 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 at 'Pearlon 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, white,  and 
>blue... an American 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.
>
>



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