For Our Troops
This poem is just for you, the honorable troops of the United States,
no matter what branch of service you joined or from where you deployed.
As the daughter of a career Navy man who is now at rest,
I know a bit more about you than most, from the depth of my soul.
Each day you do without the basics that for us are routine fare;
your belongings are just those that can fit in the pocket of your shirt.
While we sleep tucked in our warm cozy beds every night,
you sleep in a cot, or drenched in rain, or much worse.
Though you are taken for granted more often than not,
even when we do pause our lives to think about you,
no one can fully understand why you do your hard work for us,
why you signed up, or why so many stay for another tour.
This poem gathers our gratefulness as gift for you, bound together in rhyme,
for all of us who have thought of you, even if only for one second of time.
And if such combined thoughts could be given actual physical weight
it would be the heaviest thing that ever existed on the land, sea or sky.
As one who has been blessed to feel deeply and to observe,
I’ve learned that there are angels on earth, who take many forms,
and that there can be no higher calling that such angels can have
than to be one of you whose selfless service is to keep us from harm.