Plastic Soldiers

I had grass stains not scars
Eight years old in my backyard
A box of army men on a blue sky afternoon
Out of the pine trees and sap
Plastic soldiers would attack
In my imaginary war I lead platoons

Come home soldier
Dinner's getting colder
It's time to put your toys away
Marching orders
Backyard borders
You will live to fight another day
Oh put your plastic soldiers away

At an army base in Kabul
I was nineteen kicking up gravel
In a humvee when a flash came through the floor
An RPG and metal scraped
The shrapnel tore through my legs
Not living in this body
I will not be a prisoner of war

Come home soldier
Dinner's getting colder
It's time to put your toys away
Marching orders
Backyard borders
You will live to fight another day
Oh put your plastic soldiers away

A box of soldiers in the attic
GI Joe's with automatics
Toys I saved to pass down to my own
My little boy runs through the backyard
He's got grass stains for old scars
My legs are made of steel and silicone

Come home soldier
Dinner's getting colder
It's time to put your toys away
Marching orders
Backyard borders
You will live to fight another day
Oh put your plastic soldiers away