"Mold on the Rye"

While it's true that we lose one-hundred and a few
Fine young men in the score of war
We must never forget
The ones who were tricked
And duped into believing a lie
The lives that were risked
After they hugged and kissed
Their loved ones and said goodbye
The dreams and the hopes
Who children let float
Then were crushed in the blink of an eye
The terror the saw
And the stench in their drawers
When Mommy never came home that night
The hearts that broke
The terror that woke
The night America was the mold on the rye
The catcher's mitt
Missed the hit
And Sally hung her head to cry

I remember the hate
That shown on his face
When my mother up and damned him to die
He showed her his teeth
Then he gave her a wink
And blessed her as the bullet flied

It was then and there
I gave him a sneer
And told him why Jesus cried
Cause of the blood and the tears
And the guts on the piers
Cause of the God made man
And the gold in his hand
And the animals he killed and fried

Daddy got on his knees
He looked at me without shame in his eye
He said, "Son,
It's the way of the gun
You gotta be tough or you die,
I ain't got the time
To teach you the rhyme
But you'll learn it soon enough"

I never had the guts
To call on his bluff
Cause he laughed with the jackal's high
On nights like these
When the moon shines at me
I remember my Mother
And why she died