By Felicita “Terry” Robinson
Fresh out of college is someone’s son or brother Maybe a kid searching for good and encouraged by his mother Or perhaps a teacher, a dropout or a taxi driver All now standing on the threshold of war, as a survivor And faced with a mission larger than life To kill or be killed by the enemy with a gun or a knife Filled with a patriotic purpose Pumped up with great expectations to serve us Forced to be brave; forced to be strong Trembling on the inside hoping to do nothing wrong Seeking strength in cigarettes; letters from home comic books; a movie; or anything to stop feeling alone Action! And the noise of war makes a new surround sound And comrades and enemies alike fall to the ground Strong hands hold a cold metal as renewed vigor appears And eyes see life unfolding in slow-motion, as fear disappears And the gun, now a weapon of pure destruction Strengthens the mission of a soldier completing his initiation Finally, the horrors of war are over, but have only just begun Gone are the days when life was like a song And gone are carefree thoughts of an uncluttered mind Now filled with nightmares that are sometimes unkind But a deeper understanding of life is unfurled As the young soldier aged by war becomes a man in the real world
Felicita “Terry” Robinson is a budding writer (now 75!), having published a true story of faith and answered prayers (iUniverse), as well as a poem (published by National Library of Poetry, as part of their Surrounded by Dreams edition).
Academy of the Heart And Mind 