He Called Her Baby Girl (Lyrical)

Thanks to Євгенія Височина @eugenivy_now for making this photo available freely on Unsplash 🎁 https://unsplash.com/photos/jnP3wKGdGHE

He called her Baby Girl

Long before boys and cars

When she still wore

Oxford’s and Mary Jane

And he’d mercilessly tease

Her

And at the same

Time defend her

With his life.

He called her Baby Girl,

Long before whispers

Of Vietnam and

War

Dotted the air

And he knew

He’d be called

Up sometime soon.

He called her

Baby Girl in Long

Letters that said

Nothing and everything

As the sounds of war

Played out overhead.

He called her Baby Girl

In letters written

From an army hospital

In a far away place

And she learned

That freedom was not

Free

Her big brother

Carried the everyday

Reminder

Legs that did

Not work

But more than

That a crushed

Soul.

(C) Michelle R Kidwell

February.05.2022