The embers glowed softly and, in their dim light,
I gazed 'round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest;
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside, the snow fell; a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep.
Secure and surrounded by love, I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
so I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud and it wasn't too near,
but I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know.
then, the sure sound of footsteps outside, in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble. I struggled to hear
and I crept to the door just to see what was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood; his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some 20 years old.
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, my wife, and my child.
"What are you doing?", I asked without fear.
"Come in this moment! It's freezing out here.
Put down your pack; brush the snow from your sleeve.
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve."
For barely a moment, I saw his eyes shift
away from the cold and the snow, blown in drifts
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said, "It's really all right.
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line
that separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask, or beg, or implore me.
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December".
Then he sighed; "That's a Christmas Gram always remembers.
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of Nam
and now, it is my turn and, so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while
But my wife sends me pictures; he's sure got her smile!"
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag
the Red, White and Blue...an American flag!
"I can live through the cold and the being alone
away from my family, my house, and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet.
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another
or lay down my life with my sister and brother
Who stand at the front against any and all
to ensure for all time that this Flag will not fall.
So go back inside", he said, "harbor no fright.
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least
give you money", I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done;
for being away from you wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone;
to stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home either standing or dead,
to know you remember we fought, and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust
that we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
I gazed 'round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest;
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside, the snow fell; a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep.
Secure and surrounded by love, I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
so I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud and it wasn't too near,
but I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know.
then, the sure sound of footsteps outside, in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble. I struggled to hear
and I crept to the door just to see what was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood; his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some 20 years old.
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, my wife, and my child.
"What are you doing?", I asked without fear.
"Come in this moment! It's freezing out here.
Put down your pack; brush the snow from your sleeve.
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve."
For barely a moment, I saw his eyes shift
away from the cold and the snow, blown in drifts
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said, "It's really all right.
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line
that separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask, or beg, or implore me.
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December".
Then he sighed; "That's a Christmas Gram always remembers.
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of Nam
and now, it is my turn and, so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while
But my wife sends me pictures; he's sure got her smile!"
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag
the Red, White and Blue...an American flag!
"I can live through the cold and the being alone
away from my family, my house, and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet.
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another
or lay down my life with my sister and brother
Who stand at the front against any and all
to ensure for all time that this Flag will not fall.
So go back inside", he said, "harbor no fright.
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least
give you money", I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done;
for being away from you wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone;
to stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home either standing or dead,
to know you remember we fought, and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust
that we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
