Then and Now
Kay W.

A boy, thirteen or so
Tears running down Red eye, swollen face
Behind those frightened eyes
Something's changed
He's no longer an innocent child
No, he's emerging
Growing before my very eyes
Years pass by and he grows
From the scared little boy on the side of the road
To a brave soldier guarding the roads
Time, to him, has since been kind What seemed to crush him before
Now has made him stronger
He used to cry for his mother And now it is she who cries for her son
Watching as he walks off into a new world
A dangerous world, war-filled world
He knowingly ventures into this place
Knowingly offering his life to protect others
This was once the shy boy cowering in a corner Begging for someone to come and pull him free
Free from his dark dreary world
This is now the proud man who seeks out
Those who bring darkness to others
And saves those who are shadowed darkness
The boy is no longer a boy
But a man, a protector, a guardian, a U.S. Soldier