Coming Home Can Be Hard

Soldiers never expect to come home in a casket
That’s draped with our country’s flag.
They would much rather step foot on this hallowed
Ground minus the escort and toe tag

They’d much rather see loved ones celebrating
And waving and cheering and crying
To see them alive and well and standing tall
Than shipped home in a box after dying.

Soldiers only have so much to give of themselves
The most important thing being their lives
A gift, while precious, is somehow best understood
By all the parents and children and wives.

So the price is paid many times over it seems
Whenever a casket arrives in their place
And their heart beats no more for what life brings
Nor the anticipation of a families embrace

A folded flag, some pictures and fading memories
Become the legacy of most who are lost
They are poor, poor substitutes for life and living
And the price paid is way too high a cost

It’s right that we celebrate with those who survive
And whose courage helps to keep us free
But we must never forget, we must never forget
Lives sacrificed in their personal Calvary.

Kenneth Hutchins, October 2012