cyanpoet - Victory at a Price

"War" The word echoed in her brain,

Would she ever see her son again?

News of the conflict ever day,

Spread like tentacles from the front lines, to lands far away.

Overseas, the fiercest of battles raged day and night,

Aussie diggers, sharp, keen and ready to fight,

Advancing forward, their senses on high alert,

Flirting with danger, taking risks, some critically hurt.

Men were near, but still feeling isolated and alone,

Wondering how his family was coping back home,

There were thoughts in his mind, full of doubts and fear,

Questioning himself, why was he over here?

Though naive and young, he learnt fast,

He would survive this war and be a soldier to the last,

A corporal shared his experience and expertise too,

Here he found a mate, a friend true blue.

Not knowing what the next day would bring,

This was a life-changing episode for him,

Searching for a target high and low,

His unit encountered a large force, the oncoming foe.

The fighting and atrocities affected everyone,

Though facing danger, the Sergeant called for someone,

Trained in Special Forces, he knew he was the right man,

Using strategic manoeuvres, it was a brilliant plan,

Given a perilous task that no one else knew,

He took up the challenge and carried it through,

Infiltrate the enemy lines; he had to be bold,

To gain highly secret information as he had been told.

Crawling closer, yard after yard,

He could see he had caught them all off guard,

Cunning, highly trained and ready to kill,

This now was the time to use his special skill.

While working quietly, he could hear them talk,

Then slithering back silently, so not to be caught,

Mighty were his efforts, now he knew their plan,

How they were secretly, setting to trap his fellow men.

On nearing his Company he saw his friend Jack,

Who was bleeding profusely, he carried him on his back,

Badly injured, but sadly he passed on,

Where others that were fatally wounded had gone.

I like to think of them, now, being in a peaceful place,

Free at last, but always remembered by their mates,

Victory and winning was our absolute aim,

But it came a great loss of lives, suffering and pain

Cyan

Remembrance Day 2007.