Poetry Pleases: To A Son Home From War
Anne Steward was prompted to write this memorable poem after reading "Greater Love'' by the war poet Wilfred Owen.
My son.
My shining boy.
I glimpse that child still in your face.
But yet...your eyes, still blue as the day,
belie the child in the man
now aged beyond his years.
Your sun-stained skin will pale to oak
but will your eyes lose that inward stare
caught by what you saw,
and what you still see?
And can your strong shoulders ease and let fall
their crushing load?
Do you think if you whispered to me
in this, your home, your safer place,
those blood-stained scenes
might leach into here; is that your fear?
I’ll sing them away, your dreadful dreams.
Just lower your shield, son,
and let me sing it better.
