Yellow Footprints

Posted by Brad Osborne on August 31, 2020 · 23 Comments 

 

 

There in the faint, narrow headlights

Under the bus grill’s evil grin

Glowing set of yellow footprints

Where the journey would thus begin

 

A chosen path had been laid out

And there are many tests in store

There they will be measured against

All the brave who have gone before

 

The emblem and the honor won

Warrior’s pride cast in the crest

Like a brand burnt within the soul

For here, have stood the very best

 

And if they stand there long enough

If they bear all these trials through

They will have earned the greatest gift

An honor dressed in blood-striped blue

 

In all the years that lie ahead

This will be where their best did start

And where those yellow footprints led

Still beats within those young-eyed hearts

 

The rank and row of perfect pairs

A well-remembered, vivid scene

Haunting nightmares within the dream

Dreamed by the few they call Marines

 

 

Filed under Poetry · Tagged with boot camp, calling, footprints, honor, Life lessons, Marines, military, poem, Poetry, pride, strength, strict form poetry, USMC, yellow