Green Eyed Soldier Boy

Green Eyed Soldier

Cherubic cheeked, an explosion of curls
Even in toddlerhood you had all the girls
Milk teeth so perfect, like tiny white pearls -
My green-eyed soldier boy.
A milk-mustached face and a chocolate-smeared chin
A twinkling, mischievous, heart-melting grin
I can’t believe I’ll never see you again -
My green-eyed soldier boy.
Big footed, gangly, a changeling, a teen
Yearning for places you’d heard but not seen
Greener were pastures and spaces between -
My green-eyed soldier boy.
Though the battles you fought weren’t in foreign lands
You fought against time, against life’s strange demands
And when I was turned, you slipped right through my hands -
My green-eyed soldier boy.
Now your battle is over, your time here too short
Your ship sailed away, God said “Mission abort!”
But my heart remembers yours, and I’ll meet you at port -
My green-eyed soldier boy.