Walking in the Rain, getting soaking wet,
 Thinking about life, people I have met.
 Huge raindrops falling from cloudy skies,
 Teardrops falling from my bleary eyes.
 Meeting people, hustling and bustling,
 All seem eager, with places to go.
 No one seem to have been left alone,
 Like this lonely soldier, far from home.
 Colorful Christmas lights everywhere,
 Christmas carols and music in the air,
 Blasting from stores out into the street,
 Normally, such a holiday treat.
 Easter, Thanksgiving, now Christmas too,
 Spent so far from home, and feeling blue.
 Thinking about loved ones, food and friends,
 Hoping to see them when this tour ends.
 But as for now I must suck in my gut,
 Put on a smile and continue to strut.
 Though I am miles away from the folks I love,
 We all are blessed by The Lord Above.
 

I graduated from high school on Friday and as a 17 year old kid, I left home and joined the Air Force the following Monday.  Christmas of that year and Easter of the following year I was in Texas. I got transferred to Japan in October where I stayed for two years. So Thanksgiving and Christmas of that year and Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas of the following year, I was far away from home. So I spent the first three Christmas Holiday seasons after I joined the Air Force far away from home.  Although those were the first holiday seasons I spent far from home, during my military career those were not the only holiday seasons I spent far away from home. Today there are many young men and women in the various branches of the military who also will spend Christmas far away from home. I got to thinking about that and wrote this holiday poem.

Frank M. White
December 2019