The Wait
The minutes tick by slowly
with each hour seeming like a day
and sleep coming only when my eyes
can no longer stay open
to glimpse the latest news
of what might involve you.
And so I wait each day
thinking about you
with little else that I can do
than hope and pray
for your safe return
and the ending of my loving concern.
Oh, the pride is still there
strong as it has ever been
even well before when
your duty to country
sent you into harm's way
that memorable day.
And I know you are doing your very best
in meeting this most difficult test,
fighting for the USA
so that freedom may
ring for so many more
beyond America's shore.
So, my wait will endure
until my eyes are sure
that the man I see
walking up to me
is my grown boy...
bringing me so much joy!
David G. Bancroft
Copyright 2005
All Rights Reserved
Author's Note:
While my "The Wait" poem is a reflection of the deep, draining emotions that my wife and I felt during our youngest son's combat duty with his fellow Marines and other U.S. troops during the Iraq War ... it hopefully represents similar feelings that parents and other loved ones had (and yet to experience) for their respective valiant one(s) in combat ... which is excruciating with 24/7 media coverage ... that words cannot adequately convey.