I've just come back from the war.
I'm angry and tired and bored.
Scarred by the things that I saw —
Still don't feel like I'm home.
Don't want to go back, don't want to stay.
I'm still waiting for the big parade.
Just before dawn —
Doesn't feel like last fall…
Feels like a friend I've lost touch with
Who I'd hoped wouldn't call —
Blankets and clothes and pictures of wives,
The glow of the burning
They saw from the sky…
When I woke up, all swaddled in white
I wanted my Mother
Wanted her to tell me why I was alive
I'd write every night just before bed.
For a while there I stopped.
Did you think I was dead?
The truth of it is, I was just scared.
Scared to come back, I wanted to stay.
I'm still waiting for the big parade.