Childhood Heroes

The lonely path they chose to tread
left them bloodied, torn, and dead.
A path that often brought disdain
from those for whom they bore such pain.

History names them true and brave
and yet no garland marks their grave.
Not even those for whom they fell
remarked the place their bones now dwell.

In silent and uncaring earth
they find no measure of their worth
to those of us who knew them not,
but know the dream for which they fought.

They lived and fell in freedom's name.
One died a king and one in shame,
falsely bearing a villain's brand,
while buying hope for their native land.

My love for Freedom's way of life,
I owe to their long years of strife
to guaranty their heirs the right
to live and grow in freedom's light.

It matters not they fought and fell.
Their lives and deaths both serve us well.
For they stand testament and proof
to the enduring human truth
that Freedom is worth any cost.
Though in their fight their lives were lost,
their legends live and still they grow
and mark the path our lives should know.