Mary! Mary! Why are you crying?
Why is the sky so hauntingly dark? (Chorus)
Why is the thunder and the storm?
What are those three crosses on the hill?
Mommy! Mommy! Why are you crying?
What message did those soldiers bring?
Why all the tears? Why the gloom?
Does this mean Daddy's never coming home?
Baby! Baby! Why are you crying?
Life's an open book for you,
Full of hope and promises,
The future your's to dream and make!
How many lives have now been saved
Crusading with the cross, marching on to war?
How many more would have been lost
Our father's not off to battle?
Child! Child! Why do you cry?
Whose grave is that, whose tombstone?
It's mine I know I gave all for you,
For you were my promise, my dream, my hope for the future!
Another day, another time, another storm.
Armies keep marching, Mommies and babies keep crying.
If only everyone could come to realize
The ultimate sacrifice was made on that hill top so long ago.
Mary! Mary! Why are you crying?
Why is the sky so hauntingly dark?
Why is the thunder and the storm?
What are those three crosses on the hill?
... and what is that light beyond?
This poem is dedicated to my father, Lt. Col. Leonard P. Lynch, US Army officer and a gentleman, who went off to war many times and fought that his children might have a better future. He is gone now, yet our nation is still at war. The better future he made for me and for his wife is reflected in this poem/song, for I never followed him off to war. Instead, I am a poet and fight my battles with a pen!
Permission is granted by the author to freely read this poem at any funeral or memorial service for soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.