WRITTEN IN BLOOD...title poem from "WRITTEN IN BLOOD" (c) 2002

Written in Blood

Standing at the gates of death

Awaiting my turn for judgment

The book filled with thousands of pages

A few names engraved crimson red

I asked around and wondered why

Some names had no coloring

The gatekeeper pondered on how to answer

What you do is how you are engraved

Still in uniform with the lethal wound

Looking down on my friends and family

I snuck a peek and saw my name

Etched in red so everyone could read

Tears well up within my eyes

As the explanation began

You see you were killed in action

Your name is Written in Blood

You have a special place within the gates

A brotherhood of perfect strangers

Brought together in life and death

Welcome Home Solider you are loved

A THANK YOU IS NEVER ENOUGH...excerpt from 'WRITTEN IN BLOOD' (c) 2002

A Thank You Is Never Enough

For Standing proud day or night

For wearing the Uniform that some may hate

For sacrificing friends and family

A Thank You is Never Enough

For cold lonely nights in far away lands

For having MREs instead of a home cooked meal

For early morning PT in sub zero temperatures

A Thank You is Never Enough

For staring down the barrel of a gun

For facing your own mortality day after day

For countless nightmares that haunt

A Thank You is Never Enough

For coming home battered or bruised

For not coming home at all

For finding peace within the loud silence

A Thank You is Never Enough

For yearly holidays taken for granted

For parades and ceremonies and medals adorned

For being a SOLDIER

A Thank You is Never Enough