Hi Mim, your mother's got good reason to be proud of you. War sometimes takes the best of what we have away from us. I see my older brother from time to time but still he's never really come home to us either. The saddest song I know calls those gone cause of war "The Flowers Of The Forrest". I sometimes think that the battle refered to in that song hasn't changed the feeling of loss over the past centuries. A whole generation of youth gets tossed away like yesterdays trash & no one speaks or sings for them. Thank you for speaking for one. You have a gift for putting those feelings into a poet's pen, keep at it we all need some one who can speak for those that no longer can.

The first 3 lines was a wonderful way to set up the rest of your poem.

When the news first hit
All I could hear
Was the blood in my ears

stay with it you are a natural.

Good luck
Barry