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Into Every Life
Some Rain Must Fall
by Gary Jacobson © 1999
Into every life ... some rain must fall
To strengthen man to withstand raging tempests all
Temper naïve spirits with refining fire unending
Bludgeoned by gales to and fro contending
Vagaries of spirits in us blending
Purifying through hardship youthful boyhood braving.
Can children in full strength of stature grow,
Buffeted by thunderous war winds that blow?
Youth must be shaken by their very roots
To learn the hard way truth’s absolutes
Painstakingly taught to act the way we should
Youthful innocents raised in love of motherhood
Honoring flag and apple pie.
Nurtured from birth by the eternal on high
From telestial cradle till the day we die
Reaching always for the supernal sky.
Boys by foul winds accosted
By course ways of the world sorely tempted,
Too soon become men by tyranny tormented
Making way through incivilities become civilized.
Where angry struggles destroy or make us stronger
Fetid danger to life no stranger
Look in that final hour to fiery firmament
For spirituality to your life complement.
There are glorious freedoms worth fighting for,
Honorable causes for humanity worth dying for,
Truths worth living for
Brave futures worth working for.
But what have we won or lost
And at what cost?
Believing the harder pathway’s length
By overcoming the weathered storm gain strength!
Why do we dwell in the past we decry
Still wondering the ageless question why
Too quick to weep, too quick to cry,
Too quick to forlornly sigh?
Still in heat and rain
Still fighting demonic pain...
Will the hard rains beat us down
Bury us moldering beneath earth richly brown?
Only through conflict may we find true peace
For strongest character does not grow in ease
Lost in calm and glassy values suddenly remiss.
We children must march to the abyss,
Torn from the womb comforting
Contend with harsh rigors by war God’s sent,
Mortal clay ever kneading yet
Till ethereal day’s finite sunset.
Be bold in the face of hatred by worldly men led,
Yet be not subdued within by hatred.
Rise up to higher ground,
Maintain worthwhile virtues by the warrior found
Become humbly profound
Bear the armor of righteousness with noble morality
Rising through travails of immorality
Surrounded by teaching throughout mortality.
Hone ever sharper your righteous sword,
Peace everlasting the greater reward.
For tis said the rockier the soil,
The harder the path to toil
Over harrowing life's rocks and roil
Intemperate rain’s drowning men row by row,
Hatreds by fisted hand of fiendish conqueror sow,
Till you in full strength bloom and grow!
Make of the world’s nonsense ... Eternal sense
To the inner being cleanse
Surrounded by pure hate ... appreciate pure love
Cherish that greater light beaming above.
Flee dwellings where forces of darkness lay dying.
Decamp from killing’s wall-to-wall fearing.
Experiencing pain ... hold dearer celestial healing
Hold dearer to living.
From chaotic clamor in a world gone awry,
From Babel’s blaring song discordantly sly
Fight with all might, the good fight
To better prize the right.
Get thee from the valley of evil’s exposure
From sorrow’s desperation seek final closure
Dwell not on life's evil allotment to measure
Treasure more deeply life’s greatest pleasure.
O yes, into every life some rain must fall
To better and stronger men make of us all
But some just get wet ... and for a lifetime fret
Tramping through shadowed valley’s dusky melee.
They cannot overcome past struggles to the future see,
Become more the man we were meant to be.
Foul evils will not long keep good down.
Mankind will rise to wear the victor’s crown!
Click the Combat Infantry Badge
to go to my Vietnam Poetry index, each poem
with more action graphics and Pictures
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from the lens and poet's pen of a combat infantryman!
to leave the sweet and sour taste of "the Nam"
pungent in your nostrils as thouggh you walked beside me in combat.
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