The Old Oak Tree

Originally meant to be a sterotypical military themed poem, it got a little out of hand and turned into this.

That big old oak of lore
Its stories can reveal
In carves and cuts of bark
Where lovers' vows are sealed.

 

If a careful eye would peer
'Neath a branch around the back
Would find a heart with "Jennifer"
Signed by a man named Jack.

 

As common as the others
Is evidently clear
But its story rings the loudest
Though hidden in the rear.

 

Its age speaks of times before
Of battles won and lost
Of seasons past and present
And lives of lovers crossed.

~O~

 

Of the countless days of sunshine
In that dale of grasses green
This saw Jack down on his knee
And Jen upon the swing.

 

A long embrace she held him
And cried, Please come back to me
He vowed he would return to her
Beneath that old oak tree.

 

Jen waved goodbye in sadness
Prayed that he'd prevail
Began the wait for his return
To the oak down in the dale.

 

She knew about the life he led
The country's call to fight
She knew that he must sacrifice
She hoped he'd be alright.

 

Through days, weeks, and months
She kept her spirits high,
Forced her mind off loneliness
Though at times she had to cry.

 

She wrote to him through autumn
Spent Christmas Day alone.
Springtime came she wrote him still
She knew he would come home.

 

He'll soon return she persuaded
He'll soon come back to me
Day by day she longed for him
Down by the old oak tree.

~O~

 

Oceans, lands, and mountains
Passed quickly as Jack flew
Feelings of anxiety
For the job he had to do.

 

He knew where he was going
Into the sand filled hell
He had to keep his promise
To Jen down in the dale.

 

Once arrived in country
He grew a heavy heart
For it hurt for him to realize
How far they were apart.

 

Instead he turned his focus
On the job that lay ahead
To the faceless men of terror
That left his soldiers dead.

 

For months he went on convoys
His squad went on patrols
The urge to see his Jennifer
Grew harder to control.

 

He wrote as often as he could
Though it never was enough
Days off came sparingly
The job at hand was tough.

 

Two days rest for Christmas
Was all command could spare
One to share the yuletide
Then maintenance and repair

 

Spring arrived in jubilance
The wind was in his sail
Soon Jack would have his Jen
At the oak down in the dale.

 

~O~

 

Then Intel picked up chatter
Of the enemy at his might
The company prepared
The attack would be at night.

 

Jack's platoon made up the flank
His squad manned the street
The insurgents were surrounded
Their futures looking bleak.

 

The darkness brought in silence
The town stood deathly still
As the warriors converged
On the impending battlefield.

 

Years passed by in minutes
So quiet you could choke
The anxiety had reached its max
Then the silence broke.

 

~O~

 

Mortars, bombs, and gunfire
Tore through the silent night
Tracers, blasts, and fireballs
The fireworks of the fight.

 

The enemy fought cowardly
Civilians as their shields
Opened every weapons cache
They had buried in the fields.

 

To no avail they battled on
As munitions ripped the land
But even still they could not break
The boys of Uncle Sam.

 

Tensions mounted, the battle raged
No victor could be called
Explosions blasted through the town
Countless had been mauled.

The enemy grew desparate
And sent bombers to the streets
To detonate their lives
For Allah they wished to meet.

 

From the darkness came a jet
Its engines streaking past
A huge explosion rocked the town
The end had come at last.

 

~O~

 

The reporter watched in silence
Words could not detail
The camera caught the whole event
The picture never failed.

 

Jen watched in awe and disbelief
As it came across the screen
She prayed that Jack had not been
A part of what she'd seen.

 

In no time he'd be safe at home
His promise would prevail.
She couldn't wait for his return
To the oak down in the dale.

 

Careless leaves and fields of grain
Waving in the wind
Do not tell the tales of fate
Or how things might have been.

No mention of the sorrow
Of a shattered heart that's borne
From her hero's sacrifice
And his lover's endless mourn.

 

Seasons pass and blue moons soar
The ripened fruit decays.
Wisdom wrought in ageless eyes
Have seen their better days.

 

Jen aged ever patiently
Down by that old oak tree
Ever since her heart
Was torn so violently.

 

On she pined in the dale
'Neath her vow etched in the tree
Until Jack returned and said to her,
It's time to come home with me.