Dream for a Soldier

This poem was inspired by a dream I had last year. I didn't understand it at the time, why I dreamed this scene, this place, this time, this soldier.

Dream for a Soldier

Invisible, I sit, waiting - waiting to know
Invulnerable, he sits, knowing - knowing to wait

In a dream, he's next to me
We share a breath there by the sea

Silenced knowers board the train
I am his grief, I hold his pain

With unshed tears, he turns his gaze
From his loss, to their praise

Now he's brave and proud and true
Waging war in him for you

I, the dreamer, dream him home
He, the soldier, sits alone

Light a candle, say a prayer
Wish for peace in his heart there

Here I sit writing - writing for William
There, he stands, fighting - fighting for me.

~Robin O'Neal, 3/2009


*I sent this poem along with a letter of explanation to a soldier named William who is serving with my friend's brother in Afghanistan. Their unit lost four men in a Hummer explosion in March. As I began to ponder the reality of these soldiers' daily lives, my dream came back to me, suggesting that perhaps I need to step far outside of my own idyllic suburban "problems" and recognize the truth that is the truth of a world at war.