SOLDIER
An ordinary country man
called on to do exceptional things
in a European war
that was none of his business,
but he went anyway
and, in Holland and France,
in green lanes and fields,
used his practical bent
and obstinate nature
to occasional dramatic effect.
Yet, looking at him now,
you’d never think
he’d left this parish all his life.
And it makes it even harder
to see him as a whole because
he doesn’t talk about those things he did;
not because they were horrific
and he wants to lose the memory
or because he’s lost his reason or recall
or because he’s modest, reticent.
But he’s old now
and, from this soft chair,
it all took place so far away,
so very long ago.
Trevor Hewett
jollyweez
That is so beautiful and true. Thank you Colin. They keep it to themselves don't they?