We Need Hope for the Hopeless

A Poem for Veterans Day

By: Marissa Ranahan

In the shooting sounds of rifles,

And the somber sounds of screams,

In the midst of fear, he praised the lord,

To end his hellish dream.

He was a soldier on the line,

a man tossed into war torn blunders,

The daggers of sadness protruded him,

In his life of an un slept slumber.

The aura of nerves deep inside his body,

And the trauma resting into his head,

Made an emotionless mind completely empty,

And a soul left to be dead.

We need hope for the hopeless,

The soldiers too lost to roam,

Their battlefield does not leave in war,

But the battle starts right at home.

We need hope for the hopeless,

The angels to help with healing aide,

With grace to heal their tattered minds,

And a well mind to be made.

These angels are not sent from the heavens,

And do not come from a blue lit sky,

We are the angels on a human earth,

Trained to hear the soldier’s cry.

To gently embrace the soldiers hand,

And lead through a faithful door,

Leaving the trauma behind the lock,

And becoming the soldier’s mentor.

To thank the men who risked their lives,

So we could proudly hold our colors,

The dignity and sacrifice of these men,

Is not comparable to any other.

We need hope for the hopeless,

To slowly ease the minds to rest,

Whisper kind words to say “we’re there for you”

And guide them through their stress.

And if you doubt your gifted grace,

To help a war drenched soul,

As a mentor, you hold a gift to heal,

And fill the heart’s lonely hole.

In the past we’ve featured a Veterans day Mentorology story by 2nd LT Paul Merklinger about mentoring in his military career and also a story written by the director of the Veterans Upward Bound Program at the University of Massachusetts who works to mentor veterans in the process of obtaining education and work after active military duty.