A LETTER HOME
| She looked so sad and wistful Her face was deathly pale As she opened up her letterbox To collect the morning mail. She caught her breath and trembled Her emotions agonised For the hand that wrote one letter Had a style she recognised. With tender care she opened it But her heart could feel no joy It was a letter from her loved one It was from her darling boy. Tears fell on the letter And wet each word she read She had been informed just days ago Her soldier boy was dead. "I try to write you often Mum, But it's mostly all in vain. Each time I start a letter The fighting starts again." "I hope that you are feeling well And the family is okay My thoughts are always with you And there's so much I want to say." "You know how much I love you For you mean the world to me And when I can come back home to you How happy I will be." "Tell Julie that I'll write again The first chance that I get You know we plan to marry I fell in love the day we met." "And if we have a daughter We've decided what we'll do Her name has been selected We're going to name her after you." "I miss my sister, Linda And I miss my dear old dad I miss my old dog, Marty I miss you all so bad." "A friend of mine was wounded And I'll admit today I cried For the sergeant has informed us That friend of mine has died." "Do you remember Jimmy Dawson? Yes, of course, I'm sure you can Well, he's fighting here beside us And he's now a family man." "He has a son and daughter, And mum, he's really thrilled He shows me all their photos I pray so hard he won't be killed." "It makes one stop and realise Midst all this death and strife How precious is this wondrous thing This treasure we call life." "And of all that life has given me You rank at number one And I pray that I have always been A tender, loving son." "I have one very special wish That when we've won this war I can prove how much I love you I want to prove it more and more." "It's strange that now I'm far away There's things I want to see They were things I took for granted Now, they mean so much to me." "I miss our dear old Tom cat And his cheeky, greying face I have so many memories That nothing can replace." "I remember summer evenings When we'd sit out on the lawn And we'd chat about so many things 'Til tiredness made us yawn." "And I miss our Sunday dinner And the laughs we used to share Soon you'll see me at the table And not my empty chair." These memories are so precious And never hard to find For they glow like rays of sunshine In the canyons of my mind "I just can't wait to walk again The streets of our home town There's so many things I want to do I've written them all down." "I want to stroll beside the river With its waters clear and cool And I have the strangest yearning For the sight of my old school." "I long to see the fields of home Their beauty so serene For in this hell we're fighting in There's not a patch of green." "There's mud and slush and craters And blood stains all around This man-made war of horror Has defiled each inch of ground." "Some words I spoke the other night Created quite a fuss I said that those we're fighting Are humans just like us." "I saw a man get killed today He was one of their's, that's true But still I can't help thinking He had a mother too." "We are all obeying orders But for peace we deeply yearn Why must we go on killing? Will our countries never learn?" "If our leaders would negotiate To bring peace again somehow They could stop this senseless killing They could stop this bloodshed now." "Our soldiers have fought valiantly I'll sing their praise out loud And fighting here beside them Oh Mum, I feel so proud." "I've always loved our dear old flag But now I love it more It's a symbol to all nations Of the things that we stand for." "It's a symbol of our freedom And the life we choose to live And to keep it proudly flying I'll give all I have to give" "The fighting's started up again So I'll close this letter now But it shouldn't be much longer before I'm with you anyhow." "Soon I'll be back home to see The loved ones that I miss And I carefully seal this letter With a tender, loving kiss." Her thoughts flew to another day That seemed not long ago To a day when she had gave him birth Then proudly watched him grow. He had always been so thoughtful So gentle and so mild She loved him oh, so dearly He was such a loving child. The years passed much too quickly And his manhood had arrived But the years had never changed him His gentle nature had survived. She pressed the letter to her heart For in her heart he would remain Through the words within that letter Her boy was with her once again. She looked up to the heavens And she prayed to God above "Please give my boy your blessing Please give my boy your love." "Please comfort sons and daughters Who have lost their life today And teach the ones responsible That war is not the way." "Our children sacrifice their life To bring peace to us once more They've been stolen from their families By this horror we call war." Then she murmured, oh so softly "Please God, the power is thine Please comfort all the mothers With broken hearts like mine." K.D. Abbott © 2007 QUOTES: War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children. Jimmy Carter We have to face the fact that either all of us are going to die together or we are going to learn to live together. And if we are going to learn to live together we have to talk. Eleanor Roosevelt |
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