The Soldier’s Alphabet

A is for the Absence of love as they fought;
B is for the Burial of those who are caught;
C is for the Commitment to mother and son;
And D is for the Death that to many does come;

E is for the Everything that they left behind;
F is for the adjectives that meet their bullets in kind;
G is for the Guns that bring all this pain;
And H is for the Happiness that’s never seen again;

I is for the Indifference of king and of queen;
J is for the Joining of pencil and parchment,
Which with the seal of the devil can send the unseen;
K is for no Knowledge of the other side;
And L is for the Love by which they too abide;

M is for the Many who are shot on the range;
N is for the No one – there’s no one war does not change;
O is for the Optimism that dies with the light;
But P is for the Peace that comes after the fight;

Q is for the Questions of Grandson and daughter;
R is for the Reunion – you’ve survived all the slaughter;
S is for the Small things which mean so much more;
And T is for the good Times from before the war;

U is for the Understanding of what it means to live;
V is for love’s Victory- for which everything they give;
But W is for the Worry that fills their heads at night,
As they remember the many – those many Xs – who died down their sight;

Y is for the Yearning of those who contend;
That to those lost in the frenZy,
A dove they could send…