I was born mid-winter on the shores of the land of the midnight sun Grew to manhood upon the western plains Schooled a year in the great southern desert And four more along the western banks of a river cutting through highlands in the North-East I was taught the tactics of war in a miserably hot and humid swamp of the South And from there sallied forth to witness my first threat of war, In the snow covered mountains just east of the Adriatic I saw Slavic Serb and their Muslim neighbors ready to slit each others' throats Came home, fell in love and out again Married and divorced inside of a year to a woman I never should have said hello to Found myself at war at the break of it in the land once called Babylon And rode an armored mechanical beast from the berm to the capital, Destroying all that resisted or threatened us I would return twice more They remain the best memories, of the worst of times Along the way I fell in love again Was married after the last trip over there Had minor adventures, saw strange lands, climbed live volcanoes, swam amongst sharks, observed odd creatures She would come to bear me a son who carries my name Born in the city of Steel And we made a home for a while beside a great fresh water inland sea Then grew apart because of my cold, indifferent heart Seasons change and years pass She stayed and I left, not of my choosing To live in another foreign land In a mountain bound metropolis