Your Sacrifice

This is a poem that I wrote a few years ago for a class assignment. I think it needs revamped a little bit, but I haven't taken the time to work on it yet. So here is the rough version:

I did not know you,
I never met you,
But I know your story. 
Looking back through the photographs--
I saw the goodness in your eyes.
A caring father, a loving husband--
You gave.....and gave....and gave....
Anything that you could do
To help a person out---you did it,
Without thought of any personal gain.
But war, it changed you
It took away a piece of your self
And in its place, a pain
So deep and so jagged
Haunted you to the core of your soul.
The images that were engraved
Upon your mind replayed themselves
Over.....and over.....and over again...
Until you could not take it anymore.
You tried to make them disappear
To go away....
But they remained.
To your very last breath, this pain, it stayed.
Crushing the bits of happiness
That tried to slip past its grasp.
And in this, in your endurance of this great burden,
Of this load upon your shoulders--that you did no ask for
But for which you willingly carried---
This is your sacrifice.


Thank you to all those who have served and sacrificed for us......