The Great Canadian Soldier
We talked into the night,
In the kitchen of his house,
And that night I learned something,
That will always be with me.
He was only a young man,
When he was whisked into the war,
Where he fought for his country,
And he fought with all his heart.
That night in his kitchen,
The truth all came out,
He told of what he had done,
And how it had come about.
He was a grunt,
Just an ordinary guy,
He had packed his rifle,
Behind the enemy lines.
For an entire month or more,
His troop had marched all day,
And now somehwere deep in the night,
They had found the enemy.
And he fought,
He fought with pride,
He fought for all he was worth,
And he did his country proud.
Deep in the night,
The fear he felt,
His memory was burned,
With the images of that night.
They fought all night through,
And held up pretty well,
But the men were exhausted,
And they were beginning to dwindle.
So the man he took it,
All upon himself,
He snuck off into the night,
And into the depths of hell.
Everything was quiet,
As he slowly made his way,
All sense were on alert,
As he gently eased ahead.
Slowly he crept around,
The men and the fight,
He nimbly slunk his way,
Around the enemy squad.
He crept back a ways,
Then he came forward,
The sound of guns and the screams of men,
Intensified and echoed in the night.
Behind the enemy troop,
His fear was great,
But he didn’t have a choice,
He could not wait.
And he fought,
He fought with pride,
He fought for all he was worth,
And he did his country proud.
Deep in the night,
The fear he felt,
His memory was burned,
With the images of that night.
He let go a cry,
Deep into the night,
And he came out fighting,
Staring death in the eye.
He told me how it happened,
How he had come to live,
The actions he had taken,
He did what he did.
He broke from the trees,
And he shot some of them down,
They fired back at him,
And he took a round.
Despite the pain he felt,
He slowly reached down,
Unclipped a hand grenade,
In the world there was no sound.
He pulled the pin,
And then he tossed that grenade,
Pulled back his gun,
And fired again.
The enemy fired back,
He dropped his gun and ran,
Back into the night,
Before the bang.
There was a bright flash,
And he felt a searing pain,
He was tossed forward,
And the night went black.
He woke a short time later,
And the night was still,
There was some noise,
And in a second he felt joy.
And he fought,
He fought with pride,
He fought for all he was worth,
And he did his country proud.
Deep in the night,
The fear he felt,
His memory was burned,
With the images of that night.
He heard the men,
From his troop,
Speaking quietly,
At what he had done.
They praised his bravery,
And they wished that he was there,
He fought hard,
To hold back the tears.
Gently he raised himself,
Off the cold ground,
Quietly moved forward,
Clutching his arm.
The hurt shot up and down,
He stopped and fought the pain,
He took one more step,
And broke free of the trees.
And he fought,
He fought with pride,
He fought for all he was worth,
And he did his country proud.
Deep in the night,
The fear he felt,
His memory was burned,
With the images of that night.
They turned that very night,
And left for safer ground,
He trailed on with them,
And walked the whole way.
A few months later,
When word spread around,
He was a hero,
It was back home.
That night that I learned,
What he had done,
He showed me something,
That left me dumbfound.
From a velvet bag,
He pulled something bright,
A medal... of honor,
He had recieved for what he’d done.
And he fought,
He fought with pride,
He fought for all he was worth,
And he did his country proud.
Deep in the night,
The fear he felt,
His memory was burned,
With the images of that night.
That night lives still,
Deep inside my heart,
It was a while now,
So many years gone by.
It’s wasn’t long ago,
4 years to the day,
My good friend,
He breathed his final breath.
But his memory,
And his spirit,
Will always live on,
And so will he in some form.
For him I write this,
I write into the night,
A tear rolls down my eye,
And I remember that night again.
And he fought,
He fought with pride,
He fought for all he was worth,
And he did his country proud.
Deep in the night,
The fear he felt,
His memory was burned,
With the images of that night.
This poem is copyright © to Mike Davidson
1997