WAR Poem: Abscent Father, by Marlene Woods

That night
before your departure,
I begged God
for a drop of your likeness.

Me at home,
you at war,
and him in my womb;
I prayed for your safe return.

That was 15 years ago
and here we are once more
him and me, at home alone
while you are there, at war.

This conflict cannot end
and I, a single parent
while you are away;
can only count the days.

I ache for you without us
as I ache for us without you,
a wife with an abscent husband
and a son without a father.

Please come home.