LETTERS FROM HELL

 

I come every day and sit in my car –

I can see each soldier passing through the gate,

And yes it’s the waiting that I hate!

It’s been two long years since I have seen you,

And I can still remember kissing you goodbye!

They say the war is over, and I pray it’s true!

But I have been so afraid that you would die –

I have read your letters over and over . . .

You were only eighteen when you were drafted,

And in your letters you say you now feel forty!

Lost in a foreign land that seems so far away –

And I pray that this war has not changed you!

I know I don’t know a tenth of the horror –

I could tell you were protecting me from hell!

Time has stood still – it’s now been 3 months,

And today your mother gives me a call –

She said, “Two uniformed soldiers came by”

Her voice was shaking and I could hear her cry –

I fell to the floor – I’m screaming out to God!

Why God! Why God! He was only twenty,

And I have waited so long for his return!

Then the Lord kindly reminded me:

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not

know what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1

 

Thomas Theophilus© July 15, 1975