Showing posts with label soldier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soldier. Show all posts

Friday, December 1, 2017

Of Fellow and Fallen Soldiers



 While we drove yesterday, little Miss Three-and-a-half named everything she saw
..."I see a house, a field, a tree etc...
then in a sudden change of tone I heard her say,
"I see a lot of soldiers. Bye soldiers. We miss you"
I looked; we were passing a graveyard.
Something in her 3yr.old mind equated graves with fallen soldiers!
Fitting, isn't it? Life gives all its 'soldiers' battles to fight, some public, some private.
...and on this note happy, happy first day of December! 😀




We smile, groan, gasp and grasp the hands
Of fellow-soldiers, for we know
Alone we fall, allied we stand
As sands of seasons ebb and flow

The tender love that drives us on
Wreaks havoc, oft where none can see
Is often new to you and me

This skin we wear is sure to show
If given time enough, war-scars
They come with hold and letting go
And tasting salty sorrow-stars

We charge beneath the glist’ring sun
And wade through tides of morn to night
Battalion dependent on
Life's Chief Captain for strength and light

…and on we forge through gorge and bog
Where past and future briefly merge
To shape the battlefields agog
With living’s temp’ramental splurge

Before that somber meeting place
When one among our numbers falls
And leaves this force of hope and grace
In response to the Captain’s call

An Ultimate we all will brave
Where dust-to dust is bittersweet
Memorialized around a grave
That marks the resting place for feet

…as The Great Mystery within
Embarks where feet have never trod
When mortal steps out of its skin
And returns to life's Giver;  God

© Janet Martin




In Memory of Gordon James Pringle 



The Armor of God 
Eph.6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.  
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, 
against the powers of this world’s darkness, 
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, 
you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth fastened around your waist, 
with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, 
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. 
To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

For Those Who Died With the Fallen


A friend sent me this last night. He reminded us to remember those with scars we cannot see...

Some soldiers die on the battlefield, though still they walk away
The living dead, plagued by a hell of perpetual 'replay'
So while we remember the buried, pray we do not forget
Those who died with the fallen, but are among us yet

Janet



Friday, November 9, 2012

When He is Gone...#4





Poetics Aside Prompt; use 'when he is gone' in poem

When he is gone
Do we remember?
And do we pray
For he or (she) as they fight
For our freedom
Every day

When he is gone
Is he (she) a mythical ‘forgotten’
In a world far away?
As they lay their lives on the line
For our freedom
Every day

When he is gone
Do we beseech
To God as we pray
To keep and protect them as they fight
For our freedom
Every day


When he is gone
More than his dearly beloved
Ought to weep and pray
For sons and daughters
And mothers and fathers
Who risk their lives
For our freedom
Every day

© Janet Martin


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Of Flesh and Blood Compassion (edited re-post)

...when flesh and blood lies bleeding
futile thoughts against the sky
as farewell prayers, gasping and pleading
weep out life's final good-bye
...when freedom’s price is blood-bought
with a brother, daughter, son
our grief is universal
and our teardrops flow as one
...when freedom’s charge is gathered
again…again… again
we see, not their race or color
but simply women, men
With flesh and blood compassion
we implore to God above
to comfort those who deeply sorrow
for the ones they dearly love
When freedom’s price is blood-bought
charted ramparts disappear
for in death we all are kindred
and our sorrow is a tear
© Janet Martin

Monday, June 11, 2012

Flesh and Blood Compassion



When flesh and blood lies bleeding
Farewell thoughts against the sky
Away, away from loved ones
They weep out their last good-bye

When freedom’s price is blood-bought
With a brother, daughter, son
Our grief is universal
And our teardrops flow as one

When freedom’s charge is gathered
Again…again… again
We see, not nation or color
But simply women, men

With flesh and blood compassion
We plead out to God above
To comfort those who sorrow
For the ones they dearly love

When freedom’s price is blood-bought
Charted ramparts disappear
For in death we all are kindred
And our sorrow is a tear

© Janet Martin

Written in memory of four French soldiers killed yesterday in Afghanistan

My tears and prayers are for civilian victims as well.



Hello Megan. First, sorry for my english, I'm French. I often come to your blog because I like so much your tags and stationery (thank you so much for sharing them with us), and tonight I happened to see that post for Memorial Day. Yesterday, 4 french soldiers died in Afghanistan (I hope your poem is also for other countries fighting for freedom and not only the US). My brother, who is in the military, will be there in a few weeks, so thank you for that post. Thank you for sharing this also.
Louise

Thank you for sharing with us all ~ and impacting lives around the world...

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Sometimes as the dark sky leans over the world...


Sometimes as the dark sky leans over the world
And covers the day with its bowl
 I think of you and an ocean unfurls
Somewhere deep inside my soul

Love lays its tender and torturous grip
Over the ache in my sigh
It traces an image with soft fingertips
Drawing a tear to my eye

Time cannot retract any steps that it takes
The past, an elusive sea
I’ll fill night’s hollow with wishes I make
And love’s tender melody

The wind understands as it echoes my moan
And weeps at the foot of my bed
Somehow the night is much darker alone
As lady-moon covers her head

Sometimes when the dark sky leans over the sea
And smothers the sun with its lips
I hear the thought of you coming to me
And I trace you with soft fingertips

J~


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Would that I Could...


Oh, would that I could in place of a mile

Hold you closer to me

Oh, would that I could kiss your lips as they smile

In my tender memory

Oh, would that I could be as brave as you, hon

But that will never be

Oh, would that I could as I wish on a stone

Bring you back home to me…

J~

Loving Him (re-post)


Loving him

The most beautiful thing

She has ever done

Wild rivers run

Home-fires glow

Within her soul

At last she knows

She is whole

Dreams spawn

More dreams

'To love and to cherish'

But it seems

These dreams

Will perish

Loving him

Wild rivers run

The most unbearable thing

She has ever done

J~

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Living Dead


Amelia has prayed and pleaded and cried

For somehow the Charlie she knew has died

She holds him close when the dark thunder rolls

There are no words with power to console

Or wipe the scenes from his tormented mind

For where Charlie goes, she remains behind…


The shades are drawn to subdue the daylight

But they cannot shade the mind from his plight

The sun is warm with scent of pinewood

He shivers, inhaling the stench of blood

Lassie waits, eager for Charlie to play

Her master is home, it’s a perfect day


He lifts his arm; suddenly he braces

For the explosion of grenades and faces

Lassie looks back, trying to understand

Why Charlie won’t throw the toy in his hand

But she does not hear the planes distant hum

Or marching feet to the beat of a drum


She cannot see the horror-stricken tears

Of mangled and wounded as gun-smoke clears

Her skin does not ache with memories of blood

Covering the earth in a sickening flood

He cannot see rippling wheat fields, blue skies

Darkened by images burned in his eyes


The woods, once tranquil and sweet with romance

Speak only of fear in his haunted trance

Memories of lying in its cool dark shade

Are frames of terror as history is made

When they told her he made it, Amelia cried

Now she still weeps for her Charlie has died


Janet Martin


http://margoroby.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/painting-poems-tuesday-tryouts/

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Thoughts of a Dying Soldier


The sky is such a lovely shade of blue in early May
The clouds look soft and fluffy; I’ll be touching them today
I'm glad the grass I’m lying on is soft and emerald green
The color of the lawn in spring back home in Aberdeen

God, there was so much that I had hoped that I could do
But it looks as if today I will be meeting you
And all the things I’ve thought worth-while seem suddenly so small
I can’t help but smile to think we fuss ‘bout life at all

The only thing that matters is this moment now impending
The seeds that I have scattered will grow though life is ending
God, it is so little that man-kind will ever know
I'm glad that I am not afraid because You love me so

There’s a letter in my pocket, I suppose someone will find
And give to my beloved, ‘something that he left behind’
Sure would have loved to see her, touch her soft cheek just once more
God, what a useless, bloody hell on earth, this war

Above me now an eagle flies on her majestic flight
I will pass her in the skies as I fly Home tonight
She will fly to some tall tree and to her faithful nest
I’ll fly to eternity and my eternal rest

The sky is such a lovely shade of blue in early May
I wonder what they’re doing in my home-town today
I wish that I could see them all and hold their hands again
Oh God, in death there’s no enemy, we are all just men

Janet Martin

Inspired by the book: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

And Blood-streams Ache......


As the rough fibers of his jacket
Burn their farewell into her cheek
She cannot see beyond the moment
Or hear the words they speak
But feels the reddened torrents
Drip in quivers from the sky
Landing in impending silence
Good-bye,
Good-bye
Good-bye

Janet~

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Not That Far.....


Perhaps the sky is weeping and gray
And there’s a world of it twixt you and I
Love is unhindered; you are not far away
Love leaps across each lonely mile
There is no fixed perimeter
Where love must be sadly constrained
It takes its flight in thought and prayer
It cannot be caught or restrained

Darling, wherever you are today
Miles cannot separate
They are simply geography
On road maps that we create
But it has nothing to do with love
No matter what road maps say
I feel you near me as I move
No, you are not too far away

Life has many twists and turns
We cannot see past today
Those things for which the spirit yearns
Often seem far away
But when it comes to love, my dear
Its essence wings 'cross the gray
And in its flight it draws you near
No, you are not too far away

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Monday, November 22, 2010

Somebody's Love.....


He loved his mom’s apple strudel
His eyes were kind and blue
He loved a girl named Caroline
And oh, she loved him too
They were going to be married
As soon as the war was done
And maybe if they were lucky
Someday they would have a son……….

He always loved to play football
Was the high school quarter-back
He didn’t play for a medal
He just played for the love of it
And oh, how he loved his dog, Rover
Man’s best friend was his
Now Rover whimpers every night
And wonders where he is………

He was a generous fellow
He walked the second mile
When everybody else said no
He did it with a smile
But nobody knows his attributes
As he lies in the bloody snow
They’ve come to gather the fallen dead
…..here lies another John Doe

Beneath each cross in Flanders’ Field
Beneath the sound of a gun
Beneath the weapon or the shield
Is somebody's dear son
Beneath the watchful eye above
The dying fallen lie
Oh, pray for they are somebody’s love
…….for you and yours they die

Janet~
'son' is a generic term here.......
We pray for all the sons and daughters!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Strong Enough............


I try not to,
But oh, my dear
Every now and then
I shed a tear
I'm blessed and I know it
But this time of year
I can't help but wish
That you were here
I try to be strong, love
But I guess you know
I'll never be strong enough
To let you go

Janet~

Friday, November 12, 2010

That Was Then....



Not so very long ago
He was running across the yard
Practicing his foot-ball throw
Tossing it far, tossing it hard
Not so very long ago
He had no cares upon his brow
But he has become a man
And he is a soldier now

Not so very long ago
He was just a little guy
But it is no longer so….
As a man’s tears dim his eye
Not so very long ago
He was proud, for he was ten
An innocent little boy….
No longer so….that was then

All Right Reserved
Janet Martin

Remember to remember…..
All the men and women
Who sacrifice their lives
For our freedom!!!
Do we pray for them?
Every day?

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Touching Him......


She could not reach him there
But she could hear his laughter
In the cool slumbering air
She could not look into his eyes
But sometimes she could see them
In the blue of the skies
She could not hold his hand
As she did in the summer
When they raced ‘cross the sand
No, she could not reach him there
So she tenderly covered him
In a blanket of prayer

~Janet~

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Unbearable.....


Loving him

The most beautiful thing

She has ever done

Wild rivers run

Home-fires glow

Within her soul

At last she knows

She is whole

Dreams spawn

More dreams

To love and cherish

But it seems

These dreams

Will perish

Loving him

Wild rivers run

The most unbearable thing

She has ever done

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Monday, June 28, 2010

If You Can......


I know that we can do it
You and I
It’s in the rise and fall
We learn to fly
Love is not a bridge to nowhere
Though some days so it may seem
Oceans have been conquered
By the power of a dream
I know I’m just a woman
You are just a man
But if we stand together
I can do it….
….if you can

Miles are simply numbers
On a chart
They don’t apply to matters
Of the heart
Our love may be a kaleidoscope
A blend of joy and pain
Some days it seems our only hope
Is dancing in the rain
I can feel your heart-beat
Across the timeless span
And I know in its comfort
I can do it….
….if you can

I can take the rising
And the fall
In your arms I know
It’s worth it all
To know you and to love you
Has been life’s sweetest sorrow
And like the sky above you
I will still be here tomorrow
Darling, let me touch you
Let me hold your hand
Across the miles I feel you
Oh, I can do it…..
….if you can

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin