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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 ‘Pearl’ 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, 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.”

Sgt Grit wants to hear from you! Leave your comments below or submit your own story!

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Comments

Steve Radcliffe - June 10, 2020

Christmas 1968, Da Nang, G 2/26 9th MAB. “Jingle bells, mortar shells, VC in the grass! So take your Merry Christmas tree and shove it up your azz.” Semper FI to all the Marines that served in that time and place, and especially the Squids.

Doc Noah - June 10, 2020

God bless all the Marines with whom I served and especially those we lost in the jungles of I Corps so many Chrustnases ago. This poem brings them to mind.

Gunny Yarbrough USMC (ret) - June 10, 2020

I felt the welling of pride deep in this old Marine” heart. A poem that rings true Through the years. My grandfather in WWI My father in WWII neither Marines but still did their duty as all should. My dad was a Pearl Harbor survivor. I was that Marine in Nam. and Desert Storm, and now I take pride in the young ones following and Making Marine history still. It’s all any of us ever want is to be remembered for what we fought and stood for. This was a poem that was hard for me to read but enjoyed it all the same. SEMPER FI to all who have served no matter the service, even squids.

Russell h Robison usmc 73-77 - June 10, 2020

So true semipermanent fi

Lynn B Webster - June 10, 2020

I did pretty good this morning not shedding any Happy tears.I read this awesome poem and the tears could not be held back!!Great job Merry Christmas and Semper Fi ,now I guess I’ll just wipe the terse from my eyes.LB Webster 1966-1970 F/2/9.1967.

Donald McKeon - June 10, 2020

Well done! I am a poet as well and appreciate good poetry. I especially like poems with a good rhythm as yours was written. I’ve written dozens of poems about Marines, being once an active duty Marine – I would like to see more appear in this blog.

Benny Terry - June 10, 2020

With tears in my eyes at the end of this wonderful poem I felt the Pride in my chest that I felt marching across that parade deck on graduation day at PI.

John Stevenson - June 10, 2020

Semper Fi

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