USA Patriotism! ... "Showcasing Pride of America"USA Store! ... American / Patriotic themed gift products at USA Patriotism!

Home - Articles - USA's Birth - Great Patriots - Heroes - Honor Halls - Music - Photos
Poems - Quotes - Reference - Speeches - Stars for Troops - Stories - Student Patriots
Videos - New Content
- About - Contact - Submit - Press
- CureNow - Donate
- Privacy

Click To Google Search USA Patriotism!
USA Patriotism! YouTube ChannelJoin / Like the USA Patriotism! Facebook pagePinterestLinkedInUSA Patriotism! Instagram ChannelUSA Patriotism! On TwitterUSA Patriotism! at Flickr

Patriotic Poems
Troops & Veterans

Patritoic USA and Military Gifts from The Bradford Exchange Tough Tex USA Flag
 
Collectibles, apparel, and other gifts ... for Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and veterans!  
 

Contributor: Mary Hamrick || Poem Categories

An American Soldier

There is no final solution for wretched man,
only a quest for good fellows to defy them.

I am a revolutionary of true colors
carrying the weight of the world
in my immigrant red, white, and blue hands.
Always puckering for a kiss of democracy
I lay back and fall easily in love
with my terrain.
I know
no war is an easy war,
but I am aware that within its frenzy of gloom
it reanimates the speechless.
War,
a place where madness in the eye of a flower seems normal
and at the end of the stain of the day
the beauty of being is forever gone
to a place where whimpering,
willowy men and women are crushed
by dangerous things
in the crosscurrents of the air--then crucified.
How can we ignore misery
and deepen the darkness
by laying back like reclining nudes
with faraway eyes? No grace. No grit. No honor.

For me it is not so simple.
My eyes, like distant beacons,
shield the will-less on their borders.
As the gray gulf pulls us close to them
we stand as one
waist-deep in lumps of earth
wielding our orange tambourines--
I pray that the goal of glory
becomes as visible and as dominant
as the force of prairie lightning.

I am a soldier, your sweet protector
(where old terrors mingle) creeping on until their
undoing.
Sign of life,
as I carry the world piece by piece.

By Mary Hamrick
Copyright 2001

It is illegal to use this poem without the author's permission.
~~ Send your comments and/or use permission request to
Mary. ~~

Troops and Veterans Poems | Poem Categories

Poem Use Permission Request
USA Patriotism! cannot provide use permission for a poem or an author's email address if not listed below the poem. Only the author or a legal representative can grant permission. Try a search engine to find the author's contact information for a use permission request or if it is available for public use.
Note: Poems authored in the 1700s and 1800s can be used with reference to the author.

Comment on this poem

USA Gifts Store! ... over 1,000 American / Patriotic themed products at USA Patriotism! USA / Americana theme ... polo shirts, t-shirts, shorts, hats, caps, swimwear, sweatshirts, hoodies, hats, jackets, under garments, and other apparel items American Pride: Poems Honoring America and Her Patriots! by David G. Bancroft