Where My Heart Belongs

My heart belongs to a soldier
or at least that's the way I feel;
for you see, I can see him there
wishing he were home for real.

Chowing down with a family pic
ain't near as good as being home
just the next best thing to it...
for that soldier sick of feeling alone.

Sure, his buddies are with him, too;
but it's just not the same, somehow,
for a soldier doing what he's gotta do
for me and you, in the here and now.

Then there's the future he's fightin' for
but not for just we folk, don't you see...
there's all those on that distant shore
who don't know the meaning of liberty.

Oh, can't you see, I can hear him there
offering up a prayer for those he loves,
while he's out doing his job somewhere;
while here, hawks do battle with doves.

Yes, my heart belongs to the one alone
who just sits there staring at his plate...
picking at his food, wishing he was home,
half-remembering what it was he just ate.

But God's great ocean is much too wide
and exploding bombs are a breath away...
too far...too close...for family at his side;
but who knows, if things pan out...one day!

Oh, yes! That day when his time is up,
when he's done his duty, washed his hands...
passed to the next newbie his warrior's cup,
who'll drink from it 'til he, too, understands.

War is hell and heaven is but a trip away...
all those loving faces smiling back at him.
Yes, my heart belongs to a soldier, I say.
Which one? Oh, just to each one of them!






**Photo Credit**
U.S. Army Sgt 1st Class Richard Griffith, D. Co., 3rd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) shares his Thanksgiving dinner with a portrait of his wife and six children at the Division Main dining facility in Mosul, Iraq Nov. 27, 2003. Griffith said it was the only way he could eat with his family this year. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Kelly A. Tyler


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Click On Dove To Return Home!
Castle Chambers...Poetry by Lilripple

'Farewells and Welcome Homes'     'For a Thankless Job' and 'Before You Go'

"Where My Heart Belongs"
© Nancy L. Meek 2004



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