All is Quiet in My Backyard

I can't begin to imagine
the gut wrenching feeling
that a soldier must experience
as he's preparing to enter hostile grounds
and the horror that he encounters while he's there.

I wake in the morning with thoughts
of the war on the other side of the globe,
my stomach in knots
as I turn on the morning news
to catch the latest update.
I look outside and see my own neighborhood
in a peaceful state as usual
and then go about my morning routine.
It's easy to "forget" about the war
when it's quiet in my own backyard.

I hear daily reports of the wars progression...
Bombs dropped, guns fired,
missiles launched.
Blood spent, bodies dropped,
lives lost.
Then I turn off the tv set
and sit down with the family for dinner.
Before I turn in at night,
I glance out the window
and find that the night sky is calm
and all is quiet in my own backyard.

Then, with a heavy heart and a weary mind
I close my eyes in prayer
and remember that
it's because of soldiers present, past and future
that all is quiet in my own backyard!

03/21/2003

Posted on 03/21/2003
Copyright © 2024 Rhodora M Fitzgerald