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This poem and others are available in my books, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things....and, Nothing Special, and Nothing Matters..., available thru Amazon.com, in print and Kindle editions and Barnes & Noble websites.....Also available as an e-book via Smashwords.com. Try this link: www.nothing-works.com for the full array of options.
We all die
But soldiers die first
Intervening their bodies
Into harm's way
A conscious decision
Made freely
Rough men and women
Guarding the reaches
So that all others
Can sleep in peace
We all die
But soldiers die first
Failure not an option
Maintaining their duty
Their purpose
With their comrades
To keep the child safe
The child of Man
The child of civilization
The spark of freedom
We all die
But soldiers die first
(But sometimes...)
I wrote this poem the night before the tragedy in Conn. My focus was on our military safeguarding the outer borders of our country, including overseas duty, protecting our own, including our children. It just never occurred to me that such an incomprehensible thing could happen here at home, in America. The loss to the parents and families of all the victims is beyond me even to contemplate and fathom. Obviously, soldiers do not always die first, though I think that any one of them would do so to have prevented this. If there is any glimmer of light left here in all this blackness, let it provide some illumination and guidance.
12-16-2012 12:58 PM 
