Sta.sh
One for the man who answered the call.
One for the brother taken too soon.
Another for the man who gave it his all.
One for hearts heavy and sad.
One for families torn apart
And one for a boy now without his dad.
One for the endless tears,
One for the new struggles.
Another for so many lost years.
One for the mother's only son,
One for the memories;
And one more, one more until this war is won.
One for the brother who's coming home under the Nation's flag,
One for the ultimate sacrifice,
One for the man in the body bag.
One for the love of the fight,
One for family born not of blood.
One for that final flight.
One for the free.
One for you
And the last shall come for me.
A final salute for those who no longer hurt,
For the boys who paid the ultimate price;
Twenty one guns for my family in the dirt.
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You have a couple lines that could use a another look, purely in terms of rhythm:
4 "One for hearts heavy and sad" - there is a natural pause missing right in the middle. Maybe "One for hearts made heavy and sad"?
7 "Endless tears" is a cliche. Find another word (and an extra syllable) instead of "endless". This is a realistic poem, no need to reach for hyperbolic images.
12 Love the repetition of "one more" in this line. Perfect.
14 Instead of "ultimate" consider using "final" - again, because "ultimate sacrifice" is a cliche (and also a debatable concept) and also because "ultimate" is one syllable too many here
17 This is a great line. It's ambiguous because a family born of blood could be relatives or could be brothers in battle, so it gives the reader a choice of which to salute (or to salute both).
21 Too many syllables, or maybe just too stilted because of the word "shall". It needs something, anyway.
24 "my family" is sonorously clumsy. Although the cant is technically right the line seems to get snarled here. "the family" or "a family" would be best but then you lose the emphasized personal connection (though it's still implied by the poem overall). You could say "our family" though it's still a bit long to say.
Overall, good work, a fitting tribute, definitely one for the pub back home.
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