So many days, how many till you leave?
How many hours till you are unsafe,
till the desert swallows you
and I am left with your memory and your ideals,
the innocence that i would lay down my life
to preserve for you.

So many days, numbered exponentially from the
day that you were born,
and every day I took for granted is a knot
to me now,
the fear for your well-being in another country.

So many days that I will be desperate for you,
praying for your safe passage among
those who hate us, through the valley,
through the insurgents...
praying that they part for you like a tide, that
every step you take is blessed,
that the ground is stable,
that your mind is quick, that your training is sound.

So many days that I will wait for you
to come home to those who love you, to those who
you fight for,
to those who admire your courage and strength,
to those who look up to you as an example, as a friend,
as a brother,
as a son, as a healer,
as a good man...

05/05/2004

Author's Note: my brother will be deployed to iraq for 24 months sometime between july and december....

Posted on 05/05/2004
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