Weathered and beaten

Tired and alone

It sits in a field

A long forgotten stone.

It speaks no ill,

It bears no hate,

It is merely a marker

Proclaiming one’s fate.

And on it written,

etched words hardly seen:

‘A young boy not forgotten,

a soldier in green.

He fought for his country,

he fought to be free,

God grant him mercy,

he was only eighteen.’