The Forgotten Soldier

​The young man sits on a cold bench
on a cool, breezy November day.
He is admiring a monument made of cement
that honours the fallen from the great wars.
People and families that deserve to be enshrined.
 
A tear comes to the young man's eye
as he reads the name's of those who sacrificed
for the peace and freedom of others.
 
His body will not let him stand closer
to fully appreciate the honouring stone.
He is not used to his new leg
even with the support of a cane.
 
He drifts off thinking.
Memories flashing back
to a time when both legs were his
before he went to protect in the desert
and deadly traps were discovered.
He survived where others did not.
 
Life after has been so hard.
Treatments not fully there.
All a forgotten person
once arriving home to start over.
 
The nightmares never stop
even when the eyes are open.
There is no one to talk to
in making them go away.
 
He does stand to leave the bench
and give his salute to those remembered.
The pain is in the step, walking away,
feeling forgotten and alone.
 
November 8, 2015
© Andrew Scott - Just a Maritime Boy 2015