If I were a soldier - The Cockney Bard

If I were a soldier

If I were a soldier and cradled in my arms was a dying man, would I thank my lucky stars I was still alive? Or would I think for just that fleeting second of the child you once were, and the mother who held you like I do now? Would I then lay down my arms? Would I weep uncontrollably? Would I be half the man that I am now? I wonder if I were a soldier would I feel sympathy for that life lost? My enemy, my foe, or perhaps my friend in another lifetime? Would I feel sorrow for those loved one’s you left behind? That last breath that you breathe, and the thought that you have as life ebbs from you. I want so much to be your friend now as you lay in my arms. A soldier of war or just a man I never knew.