I see the young men and women
Coming back from the war
They all have that uncomfortable
smile
My uncle had it
Korea gave him his
The war somehow froze his face
Gave his eyes a sometimes lost
stare
An old friend of mine took a
bayonet in the stomach
He was also shot in the back
Vietnam froze his face, as well
He said, they used to place an
Ace of Spades
In the front pocket of the men
they killed
He said, the ace symbol meant
death in their world
He said a lot of things
But talking about it didn’t unfreeze
his face
They come back, but they’re
forever changed
What innocence is left from their
childhood
Is gone
Never to return
For the bullet
The bomb
The tank
The grenade
All of these things have burned
it away
Like a fire to a plush landscape
War has torched all that they
were
And given them that uncomfortable
smile
This poem is from my book : Petals Falling
No comments:
Post a Comment