For Brad

You promised you'd come and visit,
You said you might even stay,
But you president said, "To war we go",
And that's why they sent you away.

I wrote you letters all the time,
And you always wrote me back,
I told you of all that happened here,
And you'd tell of more attacks.

When I could I'd send you an e-mail,
With pictures of how we all grew,
And you'd send one back to me,
With pictures of people you knew.

And rarely if you could,
You'd get out a call to me,
We'd talk of all the times we shared,
And how close we'll always be.

And then my world came crashing down,
And again I felt alone,
For on that day, August 3,
Fate claimed, "He's never coming home."

But the truth is you did come home,
They brought you in a casket,
They wouldn't let us see your face,
They did everything to mask it.

We lined up on the street that night,
With candles in our hands,
With the candles we lit up the sky,
To honor the world's best man.

I wrote a song for you,
I wrote it from my heart,
It laments how much I miss you,
It's called, "Too Many Miles Apart."

I think there's a hole in my heart,
From where you used to be,
And when I lay my head down at night,
A single tear rolls down my cheek.

Your flag is by your grave,
Your wife is breaking down,
And nothing will stay the same,
Now that you're not around.

I wish that you were here,
Right here by my side,
Because if you were still here,
You'd wipe the tears I've cried.

I still write you letters,
I keep them in my heart.
I would love to send them to you,
But heaven's just too far.

(Bradly J. Harper was killed in Iraq on August 3, 2005. He was 25 years old. His wife, Kendra, was 2 months pregnant when the news came. I've known Brad all my life, so this was really hard on me. Also, in the last verse, I don't really believe in heaven or hell, but it sounded good for the poem.)