What He Left Behind Let Babylon Burn

He came home in the winter
Snow was falling on the road
His wife stood in the doorway
As he slowly dropped his coat

She held him like she'd promised
He held her like before
But his eyes kept looking somewhere
Far beyond their bedroom door

He left something behind
Where the smoke covered the sky
He brought his body home
But not everything inside

He left something behind
With the ones who couldn't leave
And every night he closes his eyes
He goes back there in his dreams

His son was getting older
He wanted Dad to play
So they kicked a ball together
On a quiet Saturday

For a while he started laughing
Like the man he used to be
Then a helicopter crossed the sky
And brought him to his knees

He left something behind
Where the smoke covered the sky
He brought his body home
But not everything inside

He left something behind
With the ones who couldn't leave
And every night he closes his eyes
He goes back there in his dreams

There's one name he never mentions
One face he always sees
A brother who stood next to him
When neither one could breathe

He said, If you make it home, man
Don't spend your life with me
Go hold your wife and raise your boy
And live enough for three

For years those words were heavy
Like a stone against his chest
Till one morning by the window
He finally let himself confess

I miss you, brother
I wish you were here
But I can't keep dying
Year after year

He walked outside that morning
His little boy took his hand
They watched the sun come rising
Without needing to understand

He left something behind
And some of it will always stay
But love was waiting for him
On this side of yesterday

He left something behind
But he still has life to live
And maybe honoring the ones we lose
Means loving what they gave us

So he held his son a little closer
As the morning filled the sky

And for once he remembered his brother

Without asking himself why