"The Post"

Thanks for the post you stand,
unawares or otherwise.
Somewhere at the reaches, there is a wall
upon which all my defense relies,
and there you are - always
on hand, and with arms
shouldered, vigilant for signs
of the enemy, of woe or dismay,
which may (or may not) be the same thing
but anyway, you level your sights
and cry out "Hey! Buddy, anything I can do?"
You are a friend. And I know I can count on you
for anything, even if certainly one
tends to wonder, well,
what is that, what might that be?
What can anyone do,
after all, in a life like this?
Just stand one's post and stick to one's gun,
I guess. It's the price of having once begun
in so militaristic an analogy