The soldier I’ll never meet

was on my mind today;  

And the wars, once so distant,

were no longer far away.

For I began a meditation  

and found my spirit there:

I heard the bomb shells screaming

and saw the smoke filled air.

There in the midst of fighting

and all the wounded ones;

I could hear the rattle of bullets

coming  forth from their guns.

Men were fighting men

they never met before,

Oh what terrible things happen

whenever we go to war.

As I ventured further ,

I could hear a young one cry;

For the war had done him in;  

and he was soon to die.

“What will my parents think,

O Lord help them see this through..

What I have done was truly noble  

and now I have come to you”

Then there was another  

who didn’t know  our Lord most High

His words were quite different  

when he was going to die:  

“What of all this fighting,

what of this unending war?

Now, I am going to die,

There’s nothing left, no more“.

So many innocent children  

will no longer see the  morn.

For a missle’s blast had left them

lifeless and so torn.

Old and young alike,

their lives suddenly  cut short

By the war advancing further;

leaving them nowhere to resort.

Though I’ll never see the warzone

My heart is moved to pray:

For I realize  that the fighting

is really not so far away.

And that the unknown soldiers

who fight for you and me

Do so at a price, so that  

we can continue to live and be free;

© Joy Pachowicz