Poems for Remembrance Day

LET ME (A Soldier's Prayer)

Let me see the sun rise

in that place I call my home,

for here I am so far away

so frightened and alone.

Let me hear the birds sing

as they soar into the sky,

not the song of death ringing in my ears

as I listen to men die.

Let me hear the babbling brook,

or hear the ocean's roar,

for the music playing in my head

is the orchestra of war.

Let me hear the weather,

the thunder, wind and rain,

not the cannons and the bullets

and the men who cry in pain.

Let me eat a home-cooked meal,

or drink a pint of beer,

army rations do the job

but they're swallowed down in fear.

Let me watch a cricket match

or cheer at a football game,

there is no sport on the killing field

to injure or to maim.

Let me love my wife again,

lay my head upon her breast,

to sleep the sweetest sleep with her

for here I have no rest

Let me hear my son laugh

as I tuck him into bed.

The children here have lost their smiles;

their fathers lying dead.

Let me be a husband,

a father to my son;

they need to know the man I'll be

not remember someone gone.

Let me buy some trivial thing,

like flowers for my wife.

So small a cost compared to war,

where the price is human life.

Let this night not be my last

Let me see the stars once more.

Lord, life is held within your hands

this death is the hand of war.

Let me say this prayer again,

each night the same I pray.

Tomorrow, Lord, stay by my side

Let me live another day.

Elizabeth Thomas