A Poem for Mothers and Officers

Monster Squad
By Cindy Crook 11/14/04

It seems like only yesterday when I watched him board the plane,
Off to a land with an evil ruler by the name of Saddam Hussein.
I asked God to keep him safe, to bring him back home to me,
As I stood there thinking of when he was young and I held him on my knee.

Memories filled my mind, things of days now past,
How he played baseball, his first school crush, his arm being in a cast.
Kissing his head as he lay sleeping, never knowing I was there,
Chasing monsters from under his bed, with utmost concern and care.

“Who will chase the monsters now?”, I thought as I watched him go,
“Who will tuck him in at night and give him room to grow?”
I choked back tears, put on a smile, as he climbed the steps to the plane,
He turned at the top, blew me a kiss, and I was overwhelmed with pain.

I watched him through the windows, finding his place to be,
In the midst of several other Marines whose families were next to me.
I saw his Commanding Officer, standing tall just inside the plane,
And I knew that he’d take care of my boy, in the land of Saddam Hussein.

So I put on a smile that was real this time and cheered as loud as I could,
This Officer could chase monsters better than I ever dreamed I would!
Any monster coming near my son had better hope that it could run,
This fierce warrior would show no mercy from the barrel of his gun!

My head held high, my shoulders square,
I watched that plane, climbing the air.
I walked away, having no fright,
For I’d just seen my replacement in charge on that flight.