Soldier, long gone

I look at you
once bright as dew
now frayed, tearing at the seams
a picture unlike any other it seems
beetle eyes gleaming through the glass
a spectacle for the students in my class
how well your brows curve crookedly
masking shadows of scheming wickedly
though just another memory to many
for your thoughts I’d offer more’n a penny
how you could while away your life
warring others’ battles without a strife
a proud son that faced his mother tall
and answered the motherland’s call