When I Met a Soldier

There stood a soldier among the rows of crosses,
His black suit against the white tablet stones,
His eyes full of sorrow,
So different from the others.

His face pale and wrinkly,
Like a crunched up piece of paper,
he stands alone with no one by his side,
He turned around and looked at me straight in the eyes.

He did not wear a poppy,
Why was this I asked myself?
I turn to my teacher and ask why is he so different?
She said he fought in the war but not for us.

He comes to say he's sorry,
For taking so many lives,
He fought for his country,
Doing what he thought was right.

There the German soldier stood,
He began to cry,
This is when I understood,
The loss on the other side.

When I met a soldier,
This is when I began to cry

Laura Cornthwaite