People tend to forget the soldiers who come back from war, but continue to battle. I wrote this poem for a special friend, one who fought for our country and now battles those demons everyday.

Let’s not forget these Veterans 🇺🇸🇺🇸

What we sometimes fail to realize,
When a soldier goes off to war;
Even though he may return from the battle,
He’s not the same as he was before.
These changes begin in his trainings
With a statement known all too well;
Ringing out to remind him of his place now-
The wrong side of heaven,
and the righteous side of hell.
Inside he dies unto himself
Starving feelings to numb the soul;
To perform the deeds that must be done
Or serve as an eyewitness to the unimaginable.
The courage displayed is remarkable
The word “Protect” engraved in his mind;
Protecting his country, his brothers, his teammates;
Mission accomplished, time after time.
All the while he bottles up feelings
Ready to execute the next command;
To be empathetic at a time like this
Might lead to suffering by the enemy’s hands.
Where is GOD when we need HIM most?
Prayers turned now to cursing pleads;
The young who die by senseless acts of evil
Innocent victims with needs.
Surely GOD wouldn’t let this happen
The soldiers’ faith now is lost.
Anger rages inside like fire;
Prepared now, to die at any cost.
And just when the battle is over
He returns home, only to fight once more;
This time, a battle from inside his mind
With the lingering remnants of war.
The solider feels hollow and empty
He yearns to feel whole again;
Night terrors erupt out of darkness
Haunting images of death and sin.
He’s unsure if salvation will find him
Or whether or not GOD does exist;
Realizing that there’s got to be reason
He’s lived through the things that he did.
Recognizing now that the world pushes GOD out
And it is us that have to invite HIM back in;
He finds himself down on his knees crying out
Dying unto himself once again.
And as he walks through this journey
He’ll find that GOD never left his side;
HE carried the Fallen solider
And wiped all of the tears that he cried.

~carla reams
8/4/2017

#creamspoems🦋