The Warrior
The urgency of his country’s call to duty
was intense and crucial to face a threatening enemy
thousands of miles across the ocean,
To a place strange in its culture,
its religion a mystery
few westerners care to understand,
a people of humility and culture so refined
that his time there would plumb the depth of his mind,
the call was accepted by the brave young soldier
with total and complete loyalty.
The strange land was fierce,
roasting hot dunes of sand,
deltas and rivers making stark contrast
throughout the barren landscape.
Everyone dressed alike, both friend and foe,
no uniforms, impossible to know
who to fight and who to like.
In a language he cannot understand he hears
Shouts! Shouts! Shouts!
Not sure, is it praise or demand?
For their robes large and white
may hold deadly weapons out of sight?
Ever at the gravest of risk,
his weapon is always at the ready.
But where to point?
Who to shoot?
The mystery a challenge
for his presence to be steady.
His uniform often a mark of death,
he stands distinguished from the rest
except his fellow soldiers
who have come to save
a culture they don’t understand.
