WE WISH YOU WERE HOME


I remember that fair in September
As we waited for a Ferris wheel ride,
Just as you reached for my fingers,
I felt how I loved you inside.

The next thing I knew we were airborne,
Above all the eyes of the crowd,
Surrounded by rainbows of neon
As the moon popped from behind a cloud

You asked, "daddy, do you love me?"
I answered I couldn’t live without you.
Then you reached up and tugged on my collar
As we flew in that chair painted blue.

Now you are grown and gone
And have marched away to war.
As I'm writing this letter,
I yearn for your knock at our door.

I got out some rags and the wax
And gave your old Ford a rubdown.
I went for a ride of remembrance
While its mufflers made your favorite sound

I drove by the park to ponder
Those ball games we loved to play.
I can 't help but worry and wonder
If you'll ever come home to stay

Your girlfriend still teaches school
We see her every seventh day.
There's no doubt who she thinks of
When she folds her hands to pray.

Your mother still talks to your picture
As she works at her sewing machine.
I hope my son you realize
How much to us you mean.


By Tom Zart