Come Home Soldier Poem by Michael Silver

Come home my son
Do you not hear the weeping of your mother
Do you not hear her pain
Do you not share her fear that you will never come home
Why is it that when others speak of nation, God, and pride
You raise your arms in action
Yet when I speak of God, family, and honor
You merely nod
Why is it that you go off to kill strangers when your enemy is here
Did I not show you the face of the foreigner
Did I not say that he is my friend
Did I not show you the veteran
Lame and broken
Who has shed as many tears as he has blood
Did you not listen
Or have I failed
Come home my son
Why is it that you fight for a cause you barely know of
Why are you filled with such hate
Why do you wish to go before me innocent and pure
Only to come back confused
Your hands covered in the blood of men
Come home my son
As I watch you leave
Arm on your hip, and flag on your shoulder
I am asked
"Why do you cry"
"Are you not proud of your son"
"Yes" I answer
He is strong and determined
I raised him as a boy
I watch him leave as a man
My only pain is that this is also the image of his enemy
Come home my son
Fall into my embrace
Let me kiss your brow
Come home my son
Come home