Afghanistan Poem by Michael Gary Davis

I saw you once, waiting for the train
To take you home after school.
For five years you commuted each way,
Over an hour there and back.
You always did the right thing,
Phoning mum when the train was late.
You loved the land, kept chickens
(One was the wallpaper on your phone)
And helped dad around the farm.
Played football and cricket, with the scars
To prove you played a hard game.
Seeing you made me wonder what
You’d do, how far from Yorkshire
You would roam on life’s sweet journey?
How much was invested in you,
Invested with the wealth of time and love.

You’d made it to your sister’s wedding
Against the odds, impressing
Everyone with the way you looked
Posing in your uniform,
Little knowing it would be the last
Time for sharing with them all…

…Before that bomb in Helmand tore
The sun from out your parent's sky.