What I'll Come Home To

by Rick Zuroweste
(Lewisville, Texas)

I'm just a raw recruit
My duty not yet begun
Yet I can't help but wonder
As I face the rising sun
How well have I really
Thought this thing through
What's the future going to bring
And what is it I'll come home to

It's a raw, hot morning
My fatigues seem to fit all wrong
I'm crawling under the wire
And it's still an hour before the dawn
Have I really thought this thing through
What's going on in the world
And what is it I'll come home to

It's deployment day
Fraying my already raw nerves
So I search my soul
To find the pride it is to serve
Again I wonder if I've thought this thing through
I'm in this foreign land
Wondering what it is I'll come home to

I've been in the field now
For nigh on a year
I've faced down the enemy
And inhaled their fear
I wonder, then, if they've thought this thing through
I take their lives and ask myself
What is it I'll come home to

The decomposing bodies I discover
Blanket the burned out village square
Are the harsh reminder
Of why I've found myself there
And I finally stop wondering if I'd thought this thing through
I say a prayer for the dead
And dream about what I'll come home to

On my final patrol
with my furlough in sight
I place my foot in the sand
And out goes the light
And I know it doesn't matter, this thinking it through
I know where I'm headed
It's straight home to you

Author's note:
This is in honor of those Veterans who have served the U.S.A. throughout our history; those who have come home, those who have not, and those who have but struggle to find a place back home