Poem: Declaration

Our partners …
They didn’t sign on the dotted line, but signed up with their love.

They are not psychs, but they deal with our demons.

They don’t complain, but they understand:
we don’t want to be away.

They don’t go overseas, but they endure all the same.

They accept our way of life, but at times we struggle in theirs.

They don’t always understand us, but always they are there,
standing,
beside us.

Context – Illustrations: The Wardrobe? and On Patrol (by Mark Wilson)
These two illustrations really sum up the direction
of a children’s book I’ve written for publication.
On the left is a child (who looks so much like my eldest son)
looking for his parent, who is overseas.
As he is looking for his Dad in the wardrobe, on the right we see
his father in the back of a Bushmaster heading out on patrol.

(click images to enlarge)

Context – Illustration: Boarding for war
(by Anthony Eaton)
About to board the plane
to land in Afghanistan.
It’s a weird feeling, knowing you’re about
to land in a place where you have been
training to go for well over a year.

Context – Illustration: Bushmasters
(by Anthony Eaton)
Depicting a vehicle hide as
per our Afghanistan trip; the
mountains showing just how
small we all were over there.