Linda M. Graham (nee Luther)

HANDPRINTS ON THE WALL

Splashing in the puddles
just like every little boy
Despite all the muddy messes
you were mama’s pride and joy

Mother was always cleaning
muddy handprints on the wall
Muttering under her breath
but smiling through it all

As you grew a little older
you were your mother’s son
Time to put the toy guns away
as another war has just begun

Your country called you up
and you left home a man
After six short busy weeks
you were fighting in the Nam

The time went slowly by
and your mother cried for you
You were in her daily thoughts
as the battles fiercely grew

You’re short and almost ready
to get back where you belong
Just one more week of jungle
until you’re homeward bound

The only trace of you that’s left
was your helmet that they found
It was laying in the bloody mud
next to a handprint on the ground

No one knows what happened
on that one particular night
The letter that they sent her said
Your boy went missing in a fire fight

Another mother visits her son
at a monument black and long
She touches it and cries
leaving handprints on the Wall