Two days from furlough A man could only dream Of home beyond the battle lines And places he had seen The letters from our families Kept hope inside us strong We counted every mile ahead We’d been away too long I was ready for the journey I wanted to see my dear old ma Taste the food I’d long forgotten Leave behind the dust of war I pictured her there waiting As I walked up to the door Just the thought of being home again Kept me fighting one day more Two days from furlough Two days from home Two days till I could leave This death and mud alone Two days from furlough That’s all I had to go Then one morning dread came quickly And stole the life I’d known The shells had fallen daily But that morning shook the ground An all-out assault came at us And the walls came crashing down We fought them hand to hand Until no bullets could be fired There was nothing left between us But the frightened and the tired We turned and ran toward the hills Living was our only thought Driven deep into the mountains By the hell through which we’d fought We hid among the stones and trees Afraid to make a sound Waiting for the guns to stop And mercy to be found Two days from furlough Two days from home Now every road behind us burned And we were all alone Two days from furlough But home was far away We had lived through all the fighting Now our own men made us pay When the silence finally found us We came down from the heights Hoping we could find our brothers And explain that awful night But their eyes had turned against us Their voices cut like knives They never asked what happened They only called us cowards One by one We were hunted By the men we once called friends One by one They surrounded us Until the mountains had no end Hunted down like animals For simply wanting to live There was nothing left inside us And nothing they would forgive The day they finally caught me I was beaten by command Vengeful orders passed between them As they tied my shaking hands But the soldier standing near me Couldn’t look me in the eye His face was cold and silent But his sadness whispered, “Sorry” I’m a dead man walking Why must I die for this? I never killed a brother Lord, you know the truth of it Because I would not die for them Now I must die by their hands There is no mercy waiting For a frightened, broken man Two days from furlough Two days from home Now I’m walking through the frozen mud Barefoot and alone Two days from furlough But I’ll never see that train I’ll never taste my mother’s cooking Or walk through home again My hands are tied behind my back The snow cuts through my feet The men who once stood next to me Now march me through the sleet Soon I’ll be with the others The friends who tried to flee One way or another They made a deserter out of me They placed me by a wooden pole My back against the cold A cloth sack covered up my head The darkness took its hold I could hear their boots around me I could hear the rifles raised I could hear a young man crying Though he tried to hide his face Two days from furlough Two days from home I can almost see my mother Standing at the door alone Two days from furlough I was nearly on my way Now the final morning finds me With nothing left to say Then a shout… Ready! Then another… Aim! One last breath…
