Lynn C. Price

ONE MORE MISSION

He stared out o’er the ocean, as a million times before,
A life clock’s winding down, or did it stop in war?
Some forty years not counting, for counting’s naught to him,
When memories bring the darkness of the deaths of many men.

“Shoot me straight, I’m listening and please forgive the pun,
I’ve got some things to do Doc, some traveling to be done.”
“Mike, I’ve been your doctor and hope I’ve been your friend,
The only thing that’s certain is your journey’s near its end.”

He packed his gear at sunset, to no one said ‘goodbye’,
No ‘see you o’er the rainbow, somewhere in cloudless skies.’
“God, I know you’re listening to a wish I hope you’ll fill,
Please give me ‘just enough’ to climb this one last hill.”

From town to sea he traveled, o’er mountains, lakes and plains,
Stopping at a graveyard to find his brothers’ names.
Somehow he knew the spot where each was laid to rest,
Calling out the names of men who gave their best.

Stories, oh, he knew them and shared them one by one,
Oft pausing for an answer – words that now won’t come.
Voices, oddly silent, for years his ‘war and peace’,
Lead him to a place where he’s supposed to be.

Beneath a mighty oak, he knelt one final time,
Tracing faded letters on a broken stone of lime.
“Mac, I hope you’re waiting when I cross the milky Veil.
If not, these years alone were truly years in hell.”

Hands, once strong and steady, now gnarled and turning gray,
Reach towards the heavens, as he bows his head to pray.
Softer than a feather, he’s borne on eagle wings,
One more mission’s over when a thousand angels sing.

Author’s Note: Witten for Memorial Day, 2008 and dedicated to all Ghost Riders with ‘one more mission’. In Loving Memory of my Brother, my Friend, Sgt. Michael Howard, US Army Green Beret Ranger – Deployed to Heaven, 2 August 1984