O mothers, you whose sons are called to war,
The cruel talons also tear my soul.
Your boys return to wear a battle scar,
Are maimed and wounded; are not spirit-whole.
And you who mourn a grave in foreign earth
Beneath white crosses, gleaming row on row,
On reverent knees give thanks that you gave birth
To sons who bade democracy to grow.
I share with you the yearning for God's grace,
Beseeching Him to reach to warring zones.
Could I have felt a soldier-son's embrace,
My heart would sing above its anguished moans.
You walk in tears the path that Mary trod,
But hear my cry: Would that I might, O God!
The Relief Society Magazine
Sea To Sea In Song--APL Anthol.
Third in Eliza R. Snow Contest
First in MFCP Clinic Poems, Spring 1952
