" Build Up To M-Day", The War Bride
For Sixty odd years she stood by his side,
faithful and patient, his loving bride.
He went off to France, and then to Japan
how she worshipped the ground, under that man.
Her heart was with him while he was away,
she riveted planes that helped save the day
she joined up with the WAC's and served as well
she waited for letters his stories to tell.
He came home that day all in one piece
she flew to his arms, tears she released
he told her of places she'd never seen
how tall were the alps and how France was so green
He told her of Fiji and the blooms on the trees
and the way that the wind blew in off the sea
he cried over the tale of children dead lay,
killed by a blast From a bomb dropped one day.
He wept for his friends, killed on board ship,
Pearl Harbor had been their only trip,
they never saw battle, he said with a sigh,
and she held him close while he lay there and cried.
And when she held him to her late in the night
she saw in his eyes, a very sad light.
"If we have a son," she heard him say,
"I hope to God he never sees war,
his life should never go that way."
But serve their son did, in a far away land,
at 18 years old he was a man
he went off to DaNang, in sixty-five
he was there for a year
when they got the call that he wasn't alive.
She has his flag up there on her shelf
a reminder of sacrifice, of duty and self
she now holds her grandkids close to her side
and hopes to God they never see the things that she's seen as a war bride.
Angela M. Roussel
"for Nana" 1989
This is part of the "Build Up to M-Day" series. The other posts can be found here:
"Build Up for M-Day" - "No Easy Days"
"Build Up for M-Day" - Today on Do The Right Thing Radio
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