Dear Eliza.....

I am sending you this medal, dear Eliza.

They have cited me for bravery in the field.

And, oh I so believed I fight for freedom

I carried my truth like a shield.

But I've seen my brothers die, Eliza,

By hands that held our babes before the war

And I hear their mothers cry as I lay sleeping

And I don't want this medal anymore.

Can you hear the sound, Eliza?

Of the sad goose leading winter home.

I button up my coat and I hang my head down low

With the greatest kind of sorrow I have known.

I am sending you my heart, dear Eliza.

It's as broken as the man that holds it in.

And, though I make it home to your sweet love,

I don't think I'll be using it again.

There is so much I have lost, my own Eliza.

I've forgotten all the beauty in your sweet face.

Will we ever know the cost that we are paying

When we forget the ways of mercy and Heaven's grace?

Can you hear the sound, Eliza?

Of the mourning dove crying in the dawn.

There is nothing I believe but that freedom is not free

And there will not be a war that can be won.

There is nothing I believe but that freedom is not free

And there will not be a war that can be won.

-----Yours truly, Dear Eliza

I've just recently gotten this song recorded in the studio. It'll be on my next CD which, hopefully, will be out by the time autumn rolls around again.

Peace.