An Unexpected Homecoming

By Ben Woodford

Celebrations and joy at last,

The black cloud of war has been lifted,

And the smoke of battle is rolled back,

As the curtain of the mind closes,

And the audience breaks away to their homes.

But behind the veil the minds forgets not,

The atrocities and the horror one saw,

And behind the brave smiling faces,

Rolls a movie of memory and pain,

And visions the world should never see.

But all the happiness ad joy,

Is a shield for the madness within,

As the homeward journey presses forth,

Fatigue is now the enemy,

For sleep has the danger of dreaming.

All hopes now turn to the loving embrace,

Of family left to wait at home,

And a crowd awaiting in the streets,

For the heroes of Vietnam,

Gives comfort to please the mind.

Ashamed and battered the spirit felt,

For no sounds did the streets cheer aloud,

Like an unexpected homecoming,

To the baby killers and murderers,

Who thought they were heroes.

And who are they now, who can tell,

They live amongst us brave and true,

But within the horror still quakes and burns,

And the cry of a lonely soldier,

Whose medals are a reminder of the terror of man.