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Contributor: Richard Reith || Poem Categories

The Cost of War

The soldier at war
courageous as the fire rages
With adrenaline coursing through every vein.
Seeing as he has never seen
Before or since.
Sensing as he has never sensed
Before or since.
Living more intensely than he has ever lived
Before or since.

The soldiers true cost of war
Lies less in those returned
To the loving arms of God,
And more in those
Who tarry forever in yesterday.
Those who walk through the forest of life
Focused on the shaded floor
Counting the dead leaves that fell,
Not looking up and glorying
In the green life God creates each day.

The surviving soldiers cost of war
Lies in lost what-might-have-beens,
In moments wasted walking through the cemetery of their minds
Reliving each moment
As they gaze upon the marble carved names of those they knew.

When the wars are done
And the flags are raised
The young of a nation go home
Either to finally enjoy the heavenly joys of life
Or to eternally relive the hell that defines them.
By Richard Reith
Copyright 2008
http://www.rbpoetry.com
Listed October 15, 2008

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