The Soldier

He is a humble man with a simple life and a haunted past. He has paid the price for your freedom.

His old eyes hold a story
And a knowledge of world you’ll never have to know
You look at him but you don’t see
The hell that he’s gone through

 

He doesn’t ask for anything
He’s always pushed aside
The youth with their pop stars and free speech and cool trends
Don’t know that he fought for them

 

He’s seen things
Heard things
Felt things
You’ll never have to experience

 

He’s been caught in the heat of battle
And watched his brothers die
He’s been shot at and pushed back and beaten
He was praised as a hero
But only for a time

 

He is a humble man
With a simple life
And a haunting past
He has paid the price
For your freedom

 

He doesn’t ask for anything
But when you look him in the eyes
And whisper
“Thank you”
He knows his hell was worth it
He swells with pride and tears

Author's Note

I wrote this after volunteering to feed the homeless veterans at the Salvation Army last month. It's really sad to see these poor men pushed aside after all they went through for us. God bless our veterans, God bless our soldiers, and God bless America <3

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Powerful and worthwhile words shared.
"He knows his hell was worth it
He swells with pride and tears"
I did like the above lines a lot. Thank you Lexi for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

very touching and true how we treat veterans
even in australia probably.
all my uncles served one auntie and also my Dad in 2nd world war all now deceased but never forgotten x

ok keep writing i loved your poem

[R J Askew]

A fine read. We might not always agree with the politics of wars but those who fight for democracies deserve our respect and recogntion.

[Marlena]

I love honoring the soldiers ^^ I think it's incredibly unfair that old war veterans are homeless now, there should be a law or something that makes it so they always have a home and don't go hungry like that. It's horrible to think that they put their lives on the line for us and half the population doesn't even care. Great job, I really like this one especially the last lines. ^^ there's a typo in the second line, by the way XD