Yesterday We Were Parents

© 2000 by Michelle Keim,
Commander of Royersford VFW Post 6341 in PA.


U.S.S. Cole

Yesterday we were parents
We were called mom and dad
I sat and watched the news today
How times over there turned bad

A fear welled up inside me
A chill ran down my spine
The USS Cole was bombed
And she held a son of mine

Fear ripped through my heart
As I searched for any news
Part of me not wanting to know
Part needing to know the truth

I called up my husband
And told him what I heard
He rushed right home to hold me
Not able to say a word

We started calling the Navy
Our fate was in their hands
It was her who took him to
That Eastern foreign land

It was his call to duty
To honor, serve and protect
A call to duty so many of us
Now seem too easily neglect

We have to call back later
No answers can they provide
Don't they realize how that response
Tears me up inside

Now there is a number
For all the "next of kin"
That phrase will forever haunt me
And make my blood run thin

…Yesterday we were mom and dad
for right now we still don't know
if we'll ever hear those names
or drown in heartbreak and sorrow…