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Under The Yellow Floodlights
| Open Poetry #37 |
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Under The Yellow Floodlights |
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Mistletoe Angel 
since 2000-12-17
Posts 32816Portland, Oregon |
(I feel ever so often, when thinking of our young men and women serving, we often get wrapped up in the patriotic slogans like "Support Our Troops!" and often take for granted of what it truly means to be a soldier, and miss realizing that behind each uniform of a soldier, there's one of our own sons, daughters, brothers or sisters, who bleed just as we do, who have emotions just as we do, who carry so much just as we do, and I feel often we miss just what it means to be a soldier. Here's a new song I wrote inspired by a talk with someone who has returned from war in Iraq at the downtown Portland Salvation Army center. Most of us, including myself, will never understand all a soldier truly feels or experiences, but what we can do is frequently remind them of their virtue, their honor, and assure them they'll always be our brothers and sisters!  ******************* Under The Yellow Floodlights (What It Means To Be A Soldier) By: Noah Eaton 3/18/06 . . . …I… . . …I was a soldier once, even I took for granted, exactly what that meant… . …and now I’m riding, the melt between the blades, of places I frequently sojourn, that I can barely pronounce… …the weight of all I’ve carried, is innumerable, lucky pebbles, photographs of a high school sweetheart, and conflicting bravery and cowardice… …I’ve seen blood, blood paint the landscape, from people I still have never known, with faces I’ll never see, Lord, it’s such a difficult thing to see… . . . …It’s entirely possible, to take away all a man was… …along with all the promises he had, without losing your body on the battlefield… …I can’t say that I’m proud, for all I’ve done and was expected to do… …I only hope when you stare, into the glaze of my eyes, you can see the virtue behind them… Under the yellow floodlights, I’m glissading across the collage of my history, and now that all my words, have come out, I’ve found all along, I’ve written a story, to save my own life… . . . . . I’m a shadow, living in the closet, of my own skin, with too many things to say, that when said go unspoken… …so many intangible things, beneath my uniform, would it be cowardice, simply speaking of them, is that even a question? . . . My heart, my heart, it cannot possibly break… …when I’ve trained it to harden, all of these days… …there’s so much I see, that makes me want to scream… …but I hold it deep inside, for the good of my company… Under the yellow floodlights, I’m glissading across the collage of my history, and now that all my words, have come out, I’ve found all along, I’ve written a story, to save my own life… . . . . . . . Under the yellow floodlights, I’m glissading across the collage of my history, and now that all my words, have come out, I’ve found all along, I’ve written a story, to save my own life… . . . . . …I… . . …I was a soldier once, even I took for granted, exactly what that meant… . …and now I’m riding, the melt between the blades, of places I frequently sojourn, that I can barely pronounce… …can you help me through, as I speak to you… . . . "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other" Mother Teresa |
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| © Copyright 2006 Nadia Lockheart - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Broken Member
since 2000-03-12
Posts 271The woods |
Beautiful, would very much like to hear it sung. "Base not your joy upon the deeds of others, for what is given can be taken away." |
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The Lady Member Rara Avis
since 2005-12-26
Posts 7634The Southwest |
Excellent Noah. |
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Interloper
since 2000-11-06
Posts 8369Deep in the heart |
Noah, I applaud your sentiment and thoughtfulness  |
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iliana Member Patricius
since 2003-12-05
Posts 13434USA |
Noah, I have a friend, a Viet Nam war hero, who I am very tempted to send this to as I am quite sure he can identify with this young man. War casualties don't always appear on the casualty list....and you say this well with this sensitive piece. I will salute them all. It makes me wonder if there is any program for our service people to help them deal with the trauma. Love & Light to you, Angel guy......jo |
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