He came down the stairs on the laughter-filled grill <br />Where patriots were eating and drinking their fill, <br />The tap of his crutch on the marble of white <br />Caught my ear as I sat all alone there that night. <br />I turned—and a soldier my eyes fell upon, <br />He had fought for his country, and one leg was gone! <br /> <br />As he entered a silence fell over the place; <br />Every eye in the room was turned up to his face. <br />His head was up high and his eyes seemed aflame <br />With a wonderful light, and he laughed as he came. <br />He was young—not yet thirty—yet never he made <br />One sign of regret for the price he had paid. <br /> <br />One moment before this young soldier came in <br />I had caught bits of speech in the clatter and din <br />From the fine men about me in life's dress parade <br />Who were boasting the cash sacrifices they'd made; <br />And I'd thought of my own paltry service with pride, <br />When I turned and that hero of battle I spied. <br /> <br />I shall never forget the hot flushes of shame <br />That rushed to my cheeks as that young fellow came. <br />He was cheerful and smiling and clear-eyed and fine <br />And out of his face golden light seemed to shine. <br />And I thought as he passed me on crutches: 'How small <br />Are the gifts that I make if I don't give my all.' <br /> <br />Some day in the future in many a place <br />More soldiers just like him we'll all have to face. <br />We must sit with them, talk with them, laugh with them, too, <br />With the signs of their service forever in view <br />And this was my thought as I looked at him then— <br />Oh, God! make me worthy to stand with such men.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-soldier-on-crutches/
