As I Sit In My Living Room

"Protector" Photography by Susie Clevenger

To visit her wonderful photography blog click here.

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 57
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"All gave some, 
 some gave all."
~Billy Ray Cyrus

We look back past the bullets ricochet

And our hearts see

Fear cloaked in the armor of bravery

You stepped out in harm’s way

Heart pounding louder than a bomb

But my eyes were spared the gruesome details

Sitting in my living room

My brother’s blood did not splatter

Upon my face

My legs still unshaken

 still intact

no throat can express it

thunder knows what it knows

and we can only wait for the lightening flash

some memories should be unremembered

but a soldier somewhere

packs for home

carrying all those memories

he brings with shrapnel

yet leaving behind a leg

he tells himself that he is lucky

and hopes someday he will believe it

for his fellow soldier

will be laid to rest

underneath clover grass

near the shade of concrete angels 

as I freely sit in my living room.

©Carrie Van Horn 2019

Sailors, Soldiers, and Saints

Photo Credit




Linking with Imaginary Gardens for The Tuesday Platform brought to us by Rommy
also linking with The Sunday Muse
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“The Brave die never, though they sleep in dust:  Their courage nerves a thousand living men.”

~ Minot J. Savage

To all the lost sailors and every soldier, my attempt at thank you is like a whisper in a hail storm

. It could never be enough.

 For those who sacrifice life, and limb so that I may abundantly live in freedom’s trust.

I have never known the brunt of war, because you paid for my freedom at the ultimate price.

No earthly possession of magnificence could ever re-pay you even if I tried.

So instead of thoughts and mere spoken words, my pledge to you is this:

To take this gift you have given like a pirate’s treasure and make it a beautiful life well lived.

I shall reach out with wings like angels and eagles and soar instead of perch in place.

I will leave a mark, not like pencil nor chalk, but one that time cannot erase.

Yes, I will walk in abundance choosing to grow, blossom and truly thrive.

I will not complacently lay stagnant and just attempt to simply survive.

I will live my life with passion and purpose, like a missionary in a foreign land

I will choose to make a difference, and for what truly matters I will stand.

My offering is plain and simple; I will give back by being a blessing every time I can

That is my pledge to the brave, living and fallen and every woman, child and man.

Harvest of the Brave

image by Musin Yohan

Linking with Poetry Jam for Mary's prompt "Harvest Time"

Our battle-fields, safe in the keeping
Of Nature's kind, fostering care,
Are blooming, - our heroes are sleeping, -
And peace broods perennial there.
~John H. Jewett

We gather our fallen like crop in the field and then set them up in rows.

Those that bore the burden of fighting freedom's greatest foes.

They stood among the strongest and brave upon the land

and gave the greatest sacrifice for liberty of fellow man.

 

An offering of plenty that no civilian can give back

providing for generations the rights that only heroes grant.

 

 Now we reap the benefit of the harvest of the brave

so let us give the offering reverence and live a life that's great.

A Greater Gift

Poets United Think Tank #98 "Honor"

"No person was ever honored for what he recieved.  Honor has been the reward for what he gave."

~Calvin Coolidge

This life is a gift of many luxuries and hardships

that we receive freely like roses from a lover's hand.

We reach out and accept each package

until one day a little boy turns into a bigger man.

Soon the choices that lay before him

have a heavier price to pay.

What has been handed to him in the past

becomes a greater gift to give away.

All the blessings we take for granted

he gives up when he accepts a soldier's creed.

He fights a bigger battle for the many

beyond one man's hopes and one man's dreams.

This life is a gift of many joys and adversities

that we receive freely like stars on a cloudless night.

Yet the freedoms we hold to enjoy this bounty

is a greater gift that always holds a greater price.

There are many things that we take for granted in this life.  Gifts that we enjoy every day.  From a beautiful sunrise to a starlit sky our eyes are filled with many wonders, like presents in an open hand.  Yet, the busy world we live in has a way of obstructing our view, causing our struggle to keep up the pace to steal away our gratitude.  We forget that the freedoms that we enjoy have given us the rights we so take for granted on a daily basis.  These same freedoms were given to us in the ultimate sacrifice of bravery and that is a greater gift than we could ever repay.  I know that Memorial Day has come and gone again as it does every year, but I hope that we all will consider those brave souls both living and layed to rest and always honor them every day of the year.