- Joined
- May 29, 2003
- Messages
- 18,705
I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,<br />And looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.<br /><br />The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,<br />My stocks were down another point, the Dolphins lost by six.<br /><br />And so with only minutes till my son got home from school<br />I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.<br /><br />The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,<br />And so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.<br /><br />I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,<br />No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.<br /><br />And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,<br />Eight Hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.<br /><br />A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens.<br />Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.<br /><br />They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,<br />Their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.<br /><br />Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,<br />To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.<br /><br />There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,<br />They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs.<br /><br />They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,<br />They didn't need an ornament-- they lacked a Christmas Tree.<br /><br />They didn't have a present even though it was tradition,<br />The only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition."<br /><br />I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,<br />He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.<br /><br />I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near<br />And kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.<br /><br />There's nothing wrong my little son, for safe we sleep tonight,<br />Our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,<br /><br />To worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all,<br />Instead of wondering if we will be the next one to fall.<br /><br />He looked at me as children do and said it's always right,<br />To thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.<br /><br />And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,<br />To thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote:<br /><br />God Bless You all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home.<br />Remember that we love you so, and that you are not alone.<br /><br />The gift you give you share with all, a present every day,<br />You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay.<br /><br />Thank you from a grateful America! Thank you, God for our liberty and may we never take it for granted!<br /><br />by Barb Servello