Author Information
A Fallen Soldier
By
Richard Haesche
A soldier has fallen, his young life spent,
where but moments before he sat in his tent.
What were his thoughts as he stared at the floor?
Whose letter unfinished...interrupted by war?
What were his feelings, his nature, his fears?
Did he feel any pain or shed any tears?
Whose love did he leave? His mother? His wife?
A beautiful girlfriend who'll mourn for his life?
His body is lifeless. His spirit has fled.
From the wound in his side flows a river of red.
He fell not in glory, but neither in shame,
An American boy to whom war has laid claim.
Richard I would like to take a moment to comment on this poem. This poem was wonderfully captured I have yet to read your other poems but I look forward to it. I want to invite you to come share this poem with my members at http://www.todays-woman.net If time allows you to do so
Rose
A truely great poem. You showed so many emotions so vividly. Thank you for sharing.
Sadly so, and yet more soon to come, I fear - God rest ye weary gentlemen that fought so valiantly.
You paint a realistic picture of war here in so few words.
There is a term we use in military circles called ... collateral damage. It just dawned on me this could describe the hurt, the anguish, the emptiness felt by those left behind. More often than not, a soldiers death in combat doesn't come while accomplishing some heroic deed. It comes while he is simple trying to survive another patrol, another skirmish, another pitched battle or another night waiting in fear for the inevitable.
so much feeling place in so few words..... I loved it :)