The Fellow Who Deserted

By his Country's Government branded as a traitor from war he ran away
But the fellow who deserted is alive and well today
With teenage grandchildren and a devoted wife
He is aging fit and healthy and quite happy in his life

Many of his comrades dead around him the place of death he fled
He could have been a deceased war hero but he choose life instead
And though by many he is condemned for this some may say he is not wrong
For the will to live as is known than the wish to die more strong

He cannot return to his home Country where desertion is a crime of shame
He lives in a foreign city under an assumed name
He fled the bloody war zone where many young heroes were made
For his kind only scorn and never a street parade

But he is fit and well and happy for one of seventy three
And in the park near his home jogging him one often does see
He jogs along the gravel path and never out of breath
His will for life is so strong he has no wish for death

Thousands of kilometers in distance from where his life's journey began
He looks quite well for his years a lean, fit and healthy man
When he fled the bloody battle life over death he choose
The greatest gift that he has he had no wish to lose.