Other Stuff
A little rhyme and meter …
The Wise, Heroic Man
by Judy Ransom, 1981
I met a man while out tonight
Quite plain, with no high style
He made a gesture we should talk
And I agreed to stop a while.
He spoke of our great country
He’d served for many a year
I could see his glowing pride
As he opened his heart without fear.
He told me of a demonstration
Where students lay on the tile
Protesting a country they hated
Yet he worked on all the while.
Then about a week later
He was dressed in uniform
And a very young lady approached him
With eyes of a raging storm.
“Were you there when we lay on the floor?”
She asked him eye to eye.
“Yes, I was,” he answered
And then he asked her, “Why?”
“Were you offended?” “No, not at all.”
Her inner rage did rise.
“We were protesting you,
It’s people like you we despise!”
“Well, young lady, I’ll tell you,”
He calmly answered her roar,
“My life I would lay down
So you could lie on the floor.
Just keep doing your thing,
And I’ll do my very damned best
To insure that all your days
You’ll have the freedom to protest.”
The young lady had no reply
As he calmly walked away
With a sense of inner triumph,
For he knew she’d changed that day.
I’m glad I stopped to talk
With this wise and heroic man
I thank God for all those like him,
Who protect our free homeland.
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