War poem

Just Twenty One

I read one more report today.

Another flag half-mast and gun

salute, coffin draped, bearers done.

Then hear the last post bugle play

as in my mind I see his grave

stone (father, brother, loving son)

for he who was just twenty one

in asymmetric Afghan frae.

Yet did he hear his comrades call

for medic, medivac and aid,

see the Chinook rotors whir - all

dust, din and dread – confusion reign?

Or did he even feel the fall

as daylight, dreams and future fade?

Well read the prose of marching men -

once Mons, Goose Green, El Alamain,

now Helmand, Lashkar Gah, Sangin -

The soldiers’ sacrifice the same

for Queen and Country. All shall yield

in time, to time, both old and young -

except upon the Battlefield

where he remains just twenty one

Robert Kiely

I got this poem from the website http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/Afghanistan_War_Poetry.html, it's a website with a database/compilation of modern Afghanistan War poetry written by British poets.

I chose this poem because it really puts into perspective how young the soldier are still, who fight (fought) and die in war even now. The tone in the poem highlights the sadness and the danger in a war that we sometimes forget we're still fighting.