My Uncle, My Hero Poem by Huberta Van Akkeren

A husband, a father, an uncle, a son
A soldier, a brother, a man and a boy
Never one or the other, united, just one

His boyhood was lost too soon in the war
His manhood affected by all that he saw
His dotage came early, yet longevity reigned

He shed tears for his father, shed tears for his son
The tears of a man cried by a boy
Tears for the boy wept by the man

Haunted by a past he longed to forget,
Surrounded by the life that somehow seemed set
Yet speeding towards a future he was unwilling to greet

Hidden within the old man's body, bravely the boy still lived
And for a fleeting moment a glint in his eye revealed,
In the innocence of youth his carefree spirit prevailed