“HAS ANYBODY OUT THERE HEARD FROM JON?”
© Leonie Parker
Winner, 2013 Henry Lawson Festival, Traditional Verse Section, Grenfell, NSW.
Dianna’s youngest son is serving in Afghanistan.
The headlines scream “Another soldier gone!”
She opens up her Facebook page to rally all her clan.
“Has anybody out there heard from Jon?”
One by one her family and friends all join the thread;
one by one they tell her there’s no news.
The foreign correspondent on the TV fuels her dread
with nightly battle updates and reviews.
I marvel how a mother in this day and age can cope,
when every night the conflict goes to air.
While politicians beat their chests, Dianna’s only hope
is soon it will be over ‘over there.’
Though many miles divide us I still feel Dianna’s pain;
a closeness from our childhood lingers on.
Her fear wraps around me in a way I can’t explain.
Has anybody out there heard from Jon?
Her Facebook friends all gather in attempts to ease her fright.
They tell her that they’re sure he’ll be ok.
One or two make jokes about his tardiness to write,
and she seems to be comforted that way.
Once again I marvel at this modern day and age
and how we often only see the flaws.
When scattered friends and families reach out to re-engage
computers open many, many doors.
While I sit here, musing, my computer softly bleeps.
One new post; it’s not a lengthy tome.
I raise a hand to wipe an eye as down the page it creeps.
“Hi, it’s Jon. – I’m ok. – How’s everyone at home?”
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