lord god, let me go home on a bright summer day

[mopaul]

a poem written under fire.

lord god, while i have a few minutes, it's me again. just wanted to get a few things off my mind, and think about something else. you received my best friend kev today lord, and while i don't question you, in my heart i wish you had received me instead. kev was so young, and had so much to live for, and his wife and daughter will suffer so. and his boy, he will never see, until that day that you receive him as well. i don't question you lord god, why i'm here in this place, i figure you got your reasons, and i don't question the men who sent us all here to this awful place.

you remember that one september day, a few years back, when i thanked you? i asked you lord god to help me remember that one day, a summer day, so bright and clear and clean, the breeze carrying the honeysuckle, the sounds of my nephews splashing in the pool, the joy of good friends, the feeling of total happiness was so crystal clear that i asked you to help me capture it forever in my mind. i asked you lord god to never let me forget that simple, beautiful day.

kev's last words today were hard to hear, but i did hear him say his daughter's name, and i did hear him say that he wanted to go home on a bright summer day. lord god, so do i. if it is in your plan that i go home with a few holes in me, then so be it. if it's my destiny to return to that garden with one less leg or arm, it is thy will. and if i should be struck blind, or crippled up so bad i can't walk, i will not complain, i am a soldier, and i love my country.

but lord god, if it's not asking too much, i wanna go home on a bright summer day. not a day with no sun in the sky, not a day of gloom and snow, but a bright day, in mid summer, hot as a firecracker, but not hot like here lord. on a day when the leaves are so green and the water is so blue it brings tears to my eyes.
i don't have a family to go back to lord god, and after i have spoken with kev's family, i will be so happy to just sit in the garden and sip cool tea, and watch kev's daughter and son grow, and i will be at peace lord. no matter what happens to me here, if i die, that is a soldier's risk. but if i live through this peice of hell, i know that a heaven awaits me, wheather it be sitting at your right hand, or sitting in that garden on a summer's day.

i have to go now lord god, i'm tired but i must do my duty. i must remember kev, and if i should be so lucky to return to illinois, there will be two of us soaking in that breeze, kev and me. and i'll say, 'kev, ain't it a beautiful summer day today?'

[Rainbowreflect]

1. Beautiful

Thank you.