VIETNAM VET
Unkempt hair
dirt despair
Hid what was once
A boy of carefree innocence,
treasure was ripped from you.
Sent to a distant land
You went with high ideals
to protect a people.
You learned many lessons there
they were not the nice kind
The ENEMY was everywhere
jungle
villages
cities
children
women
grandfathers
At last you looked at everyone
with bitter eyes
Friends died
one by one
in a senseless game
life was cheap
All were pawns
in a power game
with rules you were not given
and cruelest of all
The land that sent you
held you in contempt
You went obediently to protect them
and they spat on you
pain and guilt
they were to much
Why had you lived
while others died
Why were you sent to that hell
and the memories oh the memories
Sent you back and back again
This sentence had no end no parole
You fell further and further
within your own world
Now the street was home
and people saw only the dirt
the unkempt hair
You were homeless
You were a stray
and people saw only the dirt
the unkempt hair
It was so easy for them to look away
from you and their betrayal
They saw only the dirt
the unkempt hair
You were killed in an alley
by skinheads who saw only
the dirt
the unkempt hair
You were buried
in a clean uniform
medals lined up in a row
An unseen honor guard looking on
At last peace had come
Joseph Men
June 28, 1996
© 2001, Joseph Men