LEAVE A WINDOW OPEN
Summer refused to leave,
we caught it lingering just
outside the kitchen window;
squeezing sweat from our brows,
gluing legs to chairs and
keeping papa under the shadow
of the weeping willow.
I'm sure he heard mama crying
over the news about Johnny,
and noticed family and friends
stopping by to eat her fried
chicken and pecan pie.
I saw him look into mama's eyes,
cloudy as when she told Johnny
and me he lost his mind;
blaming it on the war.
I know papa heard the words,
"Your son is missing in Iraq",
since he asked the uniformed man,
with eyes as tearful as ours,
"if you find my son, please look
for my legs, they won't be far from where he lay"
Mama blamed the rising temperature,
told me go inside and don't argue;
I tried to convince her papa finally
spoke after almost a year;
things heating up fast round here.
My heart's breaking for my brother,
so tonight I'll open his window,
hoping he'll climb back in and
finally rest in peace after
sneaking out to join the
army his last birthday.
Not fair to blame him for that,
wasn't much for him to do around here,
except to weep for eighteen years
under the shadow of his purple hearted hero.