Airport Goodbyes

Departing Chicago at 9:52

In clean desert camo, all baggy and loose

Sits an Iowa Guardsman alone at the gate

The place sure looked different in 1968

When he traveled with mom, first time on a plane

To visit some kin, he's forgotten their names

But he remembers the soldiers, still in their teens

in their spit polished boots and their pressed army greens

with the creases so sharp and their faces so smooth

But their eyes looked so heavy, he wondered how they could move,

and now he's got that same look, like his insides are black.

He's in his mid forties and he has to go back;

and he can't even smoke while he waits for his plane

The uniform's different, but the mission remains

To do like they tell you, don't make a fuss.

Why's not an issue, so don't think too much.

You just do what you have to, shut up and drive

If you come apart later, well at least you're alive

You can get you some help, you can deal with it then,

and life will be better, 'til it happens again.

-Ben Prewitt

2025