WAR'S EDGE.

[dadio]

Her son lies out there
On the war’s edge dead

To all including the star’s
Blink. She stands looking

Out of the window at the
Sky’s spread knowing her

Son’s dead. Nine months
In the make and years after

To bring up and love and
Tend now he’s lies at the

War’s end. O yes they’ll
Bring her back his corpse

Coffin wrapped shrouded
With flag and song and soft

Music playing sombre tunes
And organ’s drones, but

She’ll be left alone to the
Darkness and the wind’s

Moans. Looking out she
Half expects his return,

His coming over the hill
Laden with pack and smiles

And wave of hand and call
Of voice. Silence will be the

Welcome now; sitting sad
Without him in her lonely

Room and house is her only
Choice. The sun is going

Down now, he has not
Returned, no smile or

Wave of hand or voice
Calling, just the silence

And the shadows falling.

[saw]

an excellent look at the very real consequences of war, laid out in all its nakedness, in the grief of a mother that gave so much to create and nurture her child only to have him stolen away in the flash of a gun.....this has real power, and these types of poems cannot be shared enough.....the saddest part is most wars are full of lies.....

[dadio]

thank you, Saw.

[joel]

I hate that there are people who know this. I hate that it's not merely creative writing. Damn it all to hell.

[dadio]

yes, that is it, Joel. Thank you for understanding.

[justwalt]

I had a taste of this feeling before,
my son cut his teeth in the iraqi war...
I watched it unfold in technicolor gore,
praying to be spared that knock on the door...

the days passed slower than I could endure,
as the week-old lists of the dead came ashore...
hope hung on a thread, like the wreath on the door,
then he called... he, and his battalion, all accounted for!!!

amazed... overjoyed, and dancing on the kitchen floor,
I was a newborn father, to a fast aging son of the corp...
semper fidelis... seemed to give more meaning than before,
enough, at least, to get us both through his second tour...

for whatever in god's reason, that he thought his calling was for,
had changed in a moment, as he watched america rocked to the core...
you see, it was 9/11/ 2001... that date we've all come to abhor,
all planes grounded, so parris island had to wait two weeks more...

from kennedy airport he watched, with the whole city in horror,
thinking what have I done... this isn't the time to start a new war...
everything had changed, every emotion and thought hit the floor,
but there's no turning back... only questions, he and god must explore...


he survived, physically unharmed. the memory doesn't affect him as
it does to many who fight wars. I wrote a poem while waiting for word
that he was alive... I'll post it later if I can find it... that one is a tribute
to those who didn't come back alive...

I didn't mean to write so much, but it happened just the same...

thanks dadio
we need to remember those lost in the wake of war

[dadio]

Thank you, Walt.

[judih]

absolutely accurate and heart-rending

thank you, dadio

[dadio]

Thank you, judih.