A great uncle of mine fought
the Japanese during World War 2.
He was on a jungle island in the humid,
blazing Pacific. Foxholes, bayonets,
rifles, blood, terror, bravery, smoke.
He killed three men, he thinks,
and got so close to death that
they put him in a pile of corpses.
He crawled out of it though,
got flown back to America,
hitchhiked back to Texas,
made it all the way home,
made it all the way to his seventies.
I never met him.
This poem is for my great uncle,
even though he can't read it,
because he's dead now.
This poem is also for
all the American soldiers
I never met. They were sent
to the battlefield and they went.
They're also dead.
Thank you, you brave departed souls.
Thank you, you who cannot
stand with me by the grill tonight,
you who cannot flip the burgers,
sip a soda, see the American flag wave,
and watch the sun set, closing another
peaceful American day.
Thank you for leaving your bride,
so I can stay here with mine.
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3 comments:
I liked this.
The Boid
Great poem. Your Uncle Teeny, who fought on Iwo Jima, died in 2000, when he was approx 78 years old. You are also thinking here of your Uncle Wade, who was born in 1915 and is now the only living sibling at age 97. He was drafted into the Army during WWII, but never saw any battle action. It's a great poem, though. With a slight correction, that wouldn't change the impact of the poem, you could share this with your cousin Stephenie, Uncle Teeny's daughter, whose birthday it is today (Aug 2). I'm sure she would appreciate it. Also, if the last line refers to Uncle Teeny leaving his bride, he didn't marry until after the war, but Uncle Wade was married with a baby when he was drafted, and served in the U.S. Love, your aunt.
Thanks for reading and commenting, my mysterious Aunt!
When I write poems, I'm loose with the facts sometimes. But I'll change it to seventies. That sounds good. The last line refers to the Unknown Soldier, or all the other soldiers who went off to war.
I don't know Stephanie and I don't know how to contact her. Feel free to send this poem to her if you'd like.
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