Alf Hutchison - DAD

To the memory of my Dad
John Sandison Hutchison

“Son… I have bad news for you,
Your father died today”,
“Sorry…we’ll send you home”
Was all he had to say; .

I left my soldier comrades,
On the back of an RL
In that hot Zambezi valley,
The land we knew as Hell.

Frank my friend had told me
That ‘Cowboys do not cry; ’
‘Not in front of their horses’
Came my choking sad reply

I cried that whole trip home,
Remembering what Frank said
‘Cowboys definitely do not cry’
So this soldier cried instead.

I loved my Dad so dearly,
He was never meant to die,
So many words unspoken,
And now he’s gone...but why?

So if you have a father,
Love him, make him smile,
God has only loaned him to you,
For just a fleeting while.

Alf Hutchison

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dad-121/