POETRY: Heroes

by Adrian Ford

I served my Queen and country, our freedom to defend
But I was not a hero like my friends.
We faced the foe together right to the bitter end,
Tho’ I was not a hero like my friends.
The hell that we experienced you’ll never comprehend,
And I did not die a hero, like my friends.
‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ to my discharge was append.
So I never was a hero like my friends.
I have my campaign medals in a tin marked ‘Virginia Blend’,
To remind me of those heroes who were friends.
I used to keep a smiling face, but now – I don’t pretend,
I lost the only life I loved, amongst my army friends.
I had a sort of marriage, but that came to an end,
And I did not leave a widow, like my friends.
I tried to get another job, but couldn’t buck the trend,
And hankered for the Army, and my friends.
As days and weeks passed into years
Each morning would portend, a memory of my army life
And all my army friends.
That special companionship; a rare and unique blend
That I’d found when in the army, ‘mongst my friends.
Now I’m lonely and alone, in a place called Audley End.
Far from all my comrades and my friends.
The home I’m in is comfy. To my needs they always tend,
But I should have died a hero like my friends.
I used to tend the garden. Now I can hardly bend.
I should have died a hero, like my friends.
To read and watch the telly, I need a special lens.
Yes, I should have died a hero, like my friends.
Now I’ve been rude to those around me,
And it’s hard to make amends,
Oh! I wish I’d died a hero, like my friends.
My life will soon be over, and that will be the end,
And I’ll rejoin those heroes, who were friends.

‘Mongst his personal possessions
They found this poem that he’d penned.
In life he was a soldier. A hero like his friends.
Remember those heroes, those women and those men.
Who serve in foreign lands across the sea.
They must never be forgotten, although their life might end
For everyone is serving, you – and me.