**********
Standing at the door,dog tags in hand.
About to tell a loved one about
their loss.
Thinking of how it could have been me.
Wondering how they will react.
Reaching up with heavy hand,
I knock on the door.
Waiting nervously,
I prepare myself for what's to come.
Wishing anxiously someone else had come.
Wanting desperately not to have to
deliver such news.
He gave his life for this country
that he loved.
Dying so suddenly without warning.
He never got to say
"Goodbye, my love."
Sadly thinking how to treat
the wounds I'm sure to inflict.
Praying for peace and getting only
a saddened heart.
The only tribute I can give
is this poem.
His memory will never fade
from my mind.
His lust for life
never replaced.
His joy in his family
and his friends, never forgotten.
He will live on
'till the end of time.
He is one of us,
the unforgotten vet.
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* by epoet
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