Author Information
Veteran of a Lost War
A lonely pelter sits crosslegged on a roughened corner
He presses wooden match cartridges into his breast pockets
All the traffic passing by will never see him, never look over
Darkness passing lightly over his hollow vacant sockets
He smokes in silence, the cars passing, the clouds thinning
Believing in the sun he shades his eyes and looks at the hills
Another cold one on the horizon he mutters, softly grinning
The clanking of a truck bed jangles him like bottles of pills
The mixmatched patches cover his body like a military quilt
And his right hand still shakes from rheumy fright, even now
His patches speak for him, his memories on fire with guilt
Semper Fi and Missing in Action and faded, threaded POW
Distantly rockets launch in the jungle with white-hot sparks
A mirage of dink platoons march in the shaded Red Gingers
Over the ridge they mine for silver with dynamite packed bars
In the sun, a neon-jacketed crew drives steel road markers
He loads the M-16, blinks heavily with sweat, palms a bullet
The tanks roll past, vibrating violently to 'Purple Haze',
Picks up a melted wraper, glitters madly, a Hershey chocolate
While SUVs and sedans chase each other in the asphalt maze
They grab his ankles, fumbling the rifle stock in fright
Dragging him two clicks, through gravel, through a cold river
Hey mister, a boy, you want some money,shade in blinding light
Dont bother the poor man honey, grabbing the palmed quarters
The world of heaven stands shimmering like a bamboo Shangri-La
And he rattles the cage in his heart everytime he breathes
The highway, the cars, the sun, the jungle, his purple metals
Evaporating as you blink is a jail cell where death is the key
