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 Trooper, 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, "It's 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
said,
"That's a
Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
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
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."
Author: Unknown
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 Trooper, 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, "It's 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
said,
"That's a
Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
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
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."
Author: Unknown
