American Flag

You
With the bluest eyes
At the age of twenty two
Made my sun rise

You pulled me into the undertow
You revolutionized me
Your eyes and the way you said hello
I was the lock and you were the key

You had a certain charm
A smile that could end a war
A love that could do no harm
Your blue eyes washed my feelings ashore

The boy who chased me
The boy who changed my life
The man I finally began to see
When you asked me to be your wife

We said our vows
Put our feelings into words
Said everything the words would allow
We became each other's world

Over time our love still grew
But you always felt like you were missing something
But I knew
I saw this coming

With undying love for me
With undying love for your country
You knew I’d be here waiting
You knew where you had to be

But still unsure of who to choose
I told you it was easy
I wasn't something you would lose
You must choose your country

Days turned in weeks
And weeks turned into years
You were on the adventure that you always seeked
You were the man with no fears

You came home with tales from the east
I knew the right choice had been made
Because the light in your blue eyes increased
But I secretly wished you could have stayed

Since we chose you have you enlist
We learned that we took time for granted
It was a precious gift
Never to be wasted

Soon your missions grew longer
And secrets had to be kept
I knew the level of danger
I felt this new fear and I wept

Visits became fewer
My biggest wish was for you to be here
My sunrises grew bluer
I ached to have you near

But combat called your name
Louder than I ever could my dear
And honoring your country was your game
But then depths of the desert made you disappear

As time started to pass by
My sun began to set
The sun said goodbye
But those colors are something I will never forget

But what do you do when you get that news?
I saw time slowly stop on the clock
I was the one that made you choose
What do you do when you get that knock?

How do you process what doesn't feel real?
How do you let that kind of pain in?
How can you describe a pain that no one should ever feel?
Where do you even begin?

How do we go on
From planning our future together
To planning to bury you at dawn
This is the last sunrise we will remember

As the gunshots ring in my ears
As they lower you into the ground
I see any future start to disappear
My world has begun to drown

What do I do once you're laid to rest?
There’s no one left I can beg
So now what do I have left?
Just memories and a folded american flag

How do you rebuild what's been broken?
Do you let go of that part of yourself?
You can never let go of the vow that was spoken
But now my world is more than just myself

Because little did I know I was gifted with a piece of you
He’s everything you were and more
His eyes are the bluest of blue
The kind that pull you into the undertow

Reviews

[Derekv]

Heartbreaking poem. Amazing imagery, it drew me into the story. I could feel the raw, desolate pain of your character, even with such few words.

Great job!

-Derekv

[MoonChildPoetry]

this entire piece, start to finish gave me goosebumps. very beautiful! i hope i get to read some more by you very soon. i loved the imagery in this poem. very well structured. great work!