I'm Coming Home

I got a call today I thought I never get,

The man said, “pack your things, this war ain’t over yet.”

I’ve been fighting in Afghanistan for seven years today,

I don’t know how much longer I can stand to stay away.

He said my wheels go up at 0500 sharp,

Another sleepless night for me and my exhausted heart.

I wonder if I’ll ever see my wife again,

My daughter only knows me through the letters that I send.

See, that’s how they pay, that’s how they pay.

They just have to wait till I can say I’m coming home.

“Don’t know where you’re goin’, but ya gotta take it all,” he said.

Looked around my quarters, put my four bags on the bed.

I’d like to fly away and leave it all behind,

Still that would not erase these memories from my mind.

At 0430, I walked out to board that plane,

Wherever I was headed, I was sure it’d be the same.

What will I have to do and how long will it last?

Here in the army, these are questions you just don’t ask.

And that’s how we pay, that’s how we pay.

I just have to wait till I can say I’m coming home.

I’m sitting on this plane, too tired to fall asleep,

Forever held awake by all the secrets I must keep.

Why are we just sitting here, why aren’t we in the air?

It’s only my anxiety that really seems to care.

Finally we’re flying, but it’s way too dark to see.

The other soldiers on the plane are happier than they should be.

A smile is something I have learned to live without,

But suddenly, I found it when I heard the 4th lieutenant shout.

He said, “we’re on our way; we won’t have to pay...

We’re heading back to the USA!”

I’m coming home.

I’m coming home to my America,

But I don’t know what I’ll find,

Folks will shake my hand and say they’re

grateful for my kind.

Home to my America,

To a life that once was mine,

The fight may be ahead though I’ll have

left the war behind...

My heart was racing now and I could hardly breathe,

In 15 hours, I would hold my family.

Why had I been released, did I do something wrong?

Then I got my papers, saying I had done my job.

And I’m on my way, I don’t have to pay.

I don’t have to wait, I can finally say, “I’m

coming home.”