WE'VE RETURNED HOME

We've match in uniform
Like soldier ants
On the naked path of battle.

We've sang songs of martial
Drumming beats from our booths
Gulping echos of bullets.

We've seen the ugly face of war
And worried about death
And coming home
To lick our fingers.

We've returned
From the bloody line
To our nest
To feed our hungry eyes – sleep
But, here, the night hunting owls
Invades our home
Our ears flapping from midnight bombs
Dried blood on the sand

The roaring cries from our wives
That mourns a missing child.
Each day, day by day
We grief for a neighbor
Burying their faces on their hands
With a price tag hung over the neck

We've returned
With pride but weeping hearts
From remnant we've brought
In convoys & our homecoming
With cold welcoming.