I had an uncle, sweet as he could be
My dad made him the guardian of me
He’d been a fighter in the first Great War
There in the trenches on a foreign shore
Heroic Marine in the fields of France
Who was mustard-gassed while on an advance.
He was a man possessed of great intent
Disposed to say precisely what he meant
I’ll ne’er forget him or the love he gave
Values he taught me I’ll take to the grave
I wonder now if he happens to be
A soldier in God’s heavenly army !
TO MY DEAR GODFATHER, DESIRE F. VOINIER .