War
I stood on the porch in the fading light
I watched the sun go down through a cloud
There wasn't much talking there wasn't much speaking
There wasn't much left to be said out loud
And I sat in a room alone through the night
And I watched as my momma died
And I thought I heard her whisper a word
But it was just the wind blowing outside
We all came down from across the plain
I was just a baby my sister was four
With sweat and toil we worked the land
And the land kept us from being poor
The years rolled by but then the bankers came
And soon our home was gone
They gave Ma a check called it an accidental death
But we all knew what Daddy had done
Well I quit my schooling and I joined the Marines
I went off to kill the Godless man
But it wasn't for glory it wasn't for country
It was for reasons you just don't understand
I landed in the desert and I landed in hell
And I watched as my brothers died
When I got home to this country all alone
Nobody would even look me in the eyes
Now my sister got married she settled down
She raised herself a family
As I drifted around from town to town
To any woman who would have me
I ached and I hurt and I drank and I cursed
And I fought who ever I had to
I done my time walking out over that line
But somehow I made it through
Now the snow fell softly upon our heads
As we stood around Momma's grave
The preacher he read words for the dead
But the wind just kept blowing them away
I looked at the sky and I looked at the ground
And the tears in my sister's eyes
I stood there alone after everyone went home
And I told my Momma good bye
Writer/s: TOM OVANS
