youthful face, innocent cares,
wide eyed child, infant stares.
child grew up, played soldier games,
sticks for guns, a pretence to maim.
boy left school, sought to be a man,
to render peace in Afghanistan.
all too soon the decision made,
some years of his life with the Army he’d trade,
training done, off he flew,
to fight a war in pastures new.
a mortar attack, killed, outright four,
‘lucky’ for him he was blown to the floor,
though injuries sustained were incidental,
not so physical, more like mental.
cuts and bruises would heal away,
but the mental scars, with him they’d stay.
the career he’d wanted as a child,
became a curse, it drove him wild,
with visions of battle, that never would end,
he’d witnessed the death of his closest friend.
he had to leave the new family he trusted
with a broken head, psychologically busted,
he hoped they’d help to resettle him.
instead discarded, thrown in a bin,
abandoned and left to his own devices,
thoughts of suicide and similar vices.
so look what has happened, there is no one bolder,
than the man we call;
‘The Abandoned Soldier’
who fought for his Country
over hundreds of years,
did not die,
but is left,
with a wounded man’s tears.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
War as man inhumanity to man is aptly captured in the piece. It's heart touching sad story impressively narrated in a good poem with beautiful rhyme scheme. Thanks for sharing Mark and do remain blessed.