I have written a lot of songs and poems through the years but this one remains special. I wrote this poem about the Unknown Soldier when I was in high school. It is written from the prospective of being the mother of the Unknown Solder. I think of this poem every Memorial Day.
I had a son who went off to war,
Now I have that son no more.
I know not where he lies at rest.
He was an unidentified solider in that bloody mess.
Many mothers are there like me.
Who wonder where their sons might be.
They went off to war, never to return.
Not a grave or casket or even an urn.
To say a prayer or visit by,
Under this Memorial Day sky.
But there’s always a question in our mind.
That comes to us time after time.
As I think and wonder in this room.
Does my son rest in the Unknown Soldier’s Tomb?
Is that my son, I’ll never see?
In that casket of victory?
He gave his life to fight a war.
To go away and live no more.
His reward? What might it be?
To lie in the tomb of victory.
But what about those who are lost and gone?
And have no name to carry on?
Was it worth their life for what it brought?
What have we done I’ve often thought?
But what has happened cannot be changed.
I often wonder about his name.
Maybe he’s my son, maybe not.
But someone’s soldier lies in that lot.
So I wonder each day under the sun and moon,
Does my son lie in that tomb?
By Laura Fleming
(Now Laura Kerbyson)Written somewhere around 1984-1985.