Death Of A Soldier

• Xanthia Gregory, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2015

When I died I expected it to be in the rough hospital sheets
With sombre faces surrounding me as they said their last goodbyes
Saying how much they loved me and that they would see me soon

When I died I expected my eighty something years to flash before my eyes
Of all the love and adventure that I had experienced
Seeing the faces of people I’d said goodbye to long ago

When I died I didn’t expect to be face down in the mud
Wishing myself to leave quickly so that the gunfire would stop
Hoping that it would be over soon

I closed my eyes for the last time and didn’t see light that I was supposed to stay away from
All I saw was the black of my eye lids
But the feeling of floating through the sky