Soldier

There's something behind the facade

a secret I never told her,

I'm a warrior with cracked armor

with guns empty; I've been a soldier,

waging quiet battles

there's a minefield where I tread,

in the lands and corporate grinder

where I earn with blood and sweat,

I'm a fighter with welted palms

with boots broken; I was a soldier,

on the front lines where I hold:

above where blasts thunder

below where comrades fell

whose stories they'll never tell

I'm steadfast

I'll provide when you hunger

and give you warmth from the cold.

So let the bombs drop where they may

and shrapnel whistle and whisper doom

and let the marigold's burnt petals bloom

my arsenal will be ready every day

and with the weapons I do battle with

when you're safe

I live

with your joy I wrap my wounds with

my heart, my life

I give

and leave a legacy as martyr

when I have tired eyes,

war torn and forlorn

I'll always be a soldier,

a sentinel on the border

a beacon that never dies-

-MM