Never Look Back
by Michael Doyle

A soldier's life is to take life,
Be it by bullet or by knife.
The alleged purpose is to preserve life,
In the middle of all of war's strife.
There are the quiet moments of observation,
Of looking out into the depths of God's creation.
Wasn't God, who dwells somewhere above,
Supposed to be about nobler things like love?

Stretched out by the fire under darkened skies,
The soldier takes it in with his own eyes.
Everything, it seems, is a wonderment
To be caught up in the respite of puzzlement.
Why and how did he taste victory today
When so many lives were simply cast away?
Is there a god or isn't there?
This is not something to be decided in moments of fear.

It's an inanity that some divide others by skin,
Speculating about the gates of Heaven and who gets in.
Maybe there's no worse hate than racial animosity.
But to hear some folks talk, such talk is pomposity.
In a soldier's experience, it's a man's character and soul.
Merit, skills, and loyalty are the counted coup that console.
It's the steady gaze that tells of a companion's loyalty.
The things that matter most are those of integrity.

A soldier longs for homecoming and love's embrace.
It gives him comfort to feel sweet moments of love's trace.
Promises are made about killing no more - 
And wanting no association with this thing called war.
Strikes of luck, like games of cards, must be well played,
And taken only when the winning hand is displayed.
It's a huge discomfort suffered at the hands of the creator,
Too late, only because the other man is a born cheater.

Freedom is freedom, even won in the black of night.
Sometimes, it must be won in ways less than right,
And then the soldier finds himself on the run,
Full of harsh regret over what he has done.
Once sweet freedom has somehow been won,
The soldier's life surely must begin as it's begun.
A simple life tastes as sweet as freedom.
It's worth a life's wages in this soldier's kingdom.

(c)June 9, 2026   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved