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Away From Home

You missed my ship—

I shouted it

into the wind.

 

Too late now.

 

The horn sounded

from a distant harbour,

and the sea

took us with it.

 

Fifteen hundred miles

between me

and home.

 

Tomorrow

there will be war.

 

For now,

only silence—

a wide ocean

holding its breath.

 

And my thoughts

drift back

to where my heart lives.

 

Then the night

erupts.

 

Fire in the dark.

Thunder in the sky.

Fear rising

like cold water.

 

We stand our ground.

 

Bravery

is often just

fear

wearing a uniform.

 

The noise—

unbearable.

 

The horror—

closer

than words allow.

 

And then

morning.

 

The guns fall quiet.

 

The sea

pretends

nothing happened.

 

Someone laughs.

Someone else

lights a cigarette.

 

Fifteen hundred miles

from home—

yet love

still finds us.

 

One day

I sail back.

 

Home again.

Family waiting.

Familiar streets.

 

But something

stays behind.

 

Because not everyone

comes home.

 

Rows of coffins.

Flags

folded carefully.

 

A bugle

breaking the silence.

 

Soft.

 

Slow.

 

Tears fall

without permission.

 

And the question

still drifts

through the wind—

 

What was given?

 

What was gained?

 

By Paul Baldry (LongJohn)

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Written by
ThePoppiesStillBloom
71 / M / Scotland
Published
Mar 5
Lines·Words
73·181
Notes

Away From Home reflects the experience of British servicemen during the Falklands War—sailing thousands of miles into uncertainty, facing battle, loss, and courage while their thoughts remained with loved ones waiting far away. I wrote this on a white-sand beach lined with mines between me and the sea, penguins wandering calmly among them—an image I will never forget.

Tags
#falklandswar#britishforces#militarypoetry#rememberthefallen#warandmemoryvoicesofservice
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