by Cpl. Robert L. Cook
Jan. 1942-Sept. 1945
Don’t you hate
When you awake
Before the dawn
Begins to break,
You roll and toss
And hope to sleep
But into the past
Your mind does
Creep.
You think of things
You should have done
Or people who
Are long gone,
Of plans you made
When you were young
And somehow didn’t
Get them done.
Remember your first
Day of school,
The girl who
Made of you
A fool,
The clothes you wore
To the prom
And how your mother
Carried on.
Then there was, of course,
The war
That carried you
To lands afar
And with God's grace
Returned you home
With all that you
Had left with.
Sleep is such
A precious thing,
To loose it
Is a crying shame
But that we do,
From time to time,
And suffer the day
In drugged response.
But somehow we
Do carry on
To greet another
Rosy dawn.
* * *
About the author: Robert Cook served with Reg. Weapons Co.(2d-2d) from 1942~44, at Guadalcanal and Tarawa, during a 33-month overseas tour.
