Off To War~~~

The hardest thing I've ever done

was watch the back of you, my son

as you walked away from me that day

and you've never been home,

in quite the same way.

If I were a mother in the Civil War

I wouldn't wonder what you went for ~

I'd send you off proudly with pack, and sash ~

watch you ride off in a galloping flash 

Thinking you'd be home in a month or two;

But I would pine, and pray for you.

If I were your mother in the First World War

I'd wonder what you were going for

I'd send you off with a smile like the sun

and hope you never faced a German gun.

If I were your mother in World War II

I'd have a star in my window, just for you

and I'd write letters of home and weather

and your dad and I would wait, together.

If I were your mother in the Korean War

God, I'd be afraid! What were you in for,

in frozen mud and battered trees

are you hungry, my dear?

Do you have what you need?

If you had gone to Vietnam

I would be a proud but worried mom

I'd send brownies and cherry Kool-aid

and cry myself to sleep after I'd prayed.

If you'd served in the first Gulf War

I'd send you baby wipes, with a strange new fear

and hope you'd be home within the year.

I'd mail you letters and photos, too

and pray that I'd soon hear from you.

You went you to Somalia, I cried for you

I prayed, I wrote, I sighed for you -

and you came home and were all right

I cried again, all that night.

When you went to Bosnia and slept in snow

I didn't wonder why you had to go

I sent you off with a wish and a prayer

and you made it home, and out of there.

If I had to send you to this second Gulf War

I'd send you off and be so tired

I've watched you come and go, and now I'm mired

in the motions of sending a son to war

I'm tired and sad; I can't stand much more.

I know you wish you were in Iraq

but you might never be coming back

and I don't know if I could stand the pain

of watching you leave, yet again.

©Christina 12-03

Webmaster: Thurman P. Woodfork

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