Poetry post!

Hokay, so. Awhile ago, I wrote a poem. I've never written a poem before. So, I thought I'd post.
It's loosely based on a sestina, which uses the same six words to close the line, in rotating sequences. And by loosely, I mean I tried to follow the format, but mixed it up somewhere and didn't want to fix it. So here you have it.


A Solitary Flag

He stood in his uniform, the soldier;
She stood in faded jeans, the daughter.
He was leaving, “to fight for your freedom,”
He said, and they moved close to share a hug.
She wept as they embraced. He, too, shed tears.
In the distance flew a solitary flag.

She pinned on her backpack a tiny flag
And wore a ribbon to support her soldier.
Each day she tried to fight the endless tears,
Thinking “I’m strong, I’m a soldier’s daughter.”
Still she could not grasp the thought of freedom,
And wished he was here to share one more hug.

The sister, in college, could offer no hug.
The mother, distraught, could not fly the flag.
In the lonely desert sat the soldier.
The news was all of deaths for freedom.
Insolent classmates brought out the girl’s tears:
“Why be proud,” they jeered, “to be a soldier’s daughter?”

Soon the mother broke, the duties left to the daughter
And nobody offered to give her a hug.
Harder to fight down were the constant tears
As she viewed coffins draped with the flag.
And while she knew this was for freedom,
She wanted her dad back, the proud soldier.

She prayed each night for her father, the soldier.
Across the globe, he prayed for his daughter.
They sustained hope, for the sake of freedom,
But mother, daughter, soldier, all wanted a hug.
Summer months passed like a breeze through a flag
A new child was born, fixing hope, drying tears.

A year had passed, less frequent were the tears.
After school, in the house, stood the soldier.
On his arm, a patch – the shape of a flag.
Screams of joy came from the mouth of the daughter;
She flew forward for that long-awaited hug.
In his arms she finally found that freedom.

The mother, the daughter, and the soldier
Had no more reason for woeful tears.
Through the window flew a solitary flag.


I thought of trying to submit it somewhere, but considering this is the only poem I've ever written, I don't think I will.