Dead on arrival

Aeroplanes land their cargo
of bodybagged soldiers.
Young men
who left with ‘such hope’
brought back home
Dead on arrival

Under covering of night
no pomp no ceremony
Young men
whose best was not enough
brought back home
Dead on arrival

Watching TV images
she fights back tears
Still, after nineteen years
she mourns
the boy brought from her womb
Dead on arrival