Daddy is Gone

My mommy is crying, I must go help.
My daddy was buried today in a grave.
The soldier gave mommy a folded-up flag.
They saluted my mommy and she just cried.

My daddy is gone, in the coffin, buried.
He is never coming home to play with me.
He went off to war to obey his commander,
He did his duty, and now I must do mine.

I'm the man of the house, I have to help.
My sisters and mommy they need me right now.
I must be strong, brave and do my best.
My daddy would want me to help everyone.

My daddy is gone, and my mommy seems lost.
I really wish that he hadn't left us alone.
I could use him right now, to give me advice,
To tell me what to do, and just to hug me at night.

I really miss him and I want to scream and cry,
But he is gone, so I'm the man of the house.
I know he is in heaven and he is watching us.
I want to do my best to make my daddy proud of me.

I love my daddy and I always, always will.
He was my best friend, and he taught me stuff.
He taught me to be brave, loyal, honest, and kind.
He taught to do what is right, even if it is hard.

I'm the man of the house, but I'm just a kid,
So for now I think that I will go to my room.
I will go there so I can be alone and cry my tears.
Those tears I shed because my daddy is gone.

Yet, after I cry I will get up and move on.
Because daddy would want us to be happy again.
He died so we can have our freedoms protected.
He died so others may know what freedom really is.

I'm so proud of him, and mommy gave me the flag.
It sits here on my desk, where I see it when I wake.
It reminds me that there is something more important
More important than just 1 or 2 people, or even a unit.

The idea is freedom, and here in the USA we have it.
Others do not, and that is not fair, so my daddy fought.
My daddy and his friends they fought the good fight, and
Others will know just how precious and expensive freedom is.

May God take care of my daddy now, up there in Heaven.
And may God take care of mommy, sister and me.
We all miss my daddy, and probably always will miss him.
But, the USA is special and so is freedom, so to y'all I say

"God bless the USA"


I wrote this poem a couple of years ago, trying to put myself in the shoes of a little boy. How would a young child grasp why their mom or dad had to die? So this is just a humble attempt at free verse and at grasping something that is tragic and incomprehensible. Though my experiences with kids it has come to my ken that the kids understand far more sometimes than we adults give them credit for.

In Christ,
Paige