Veterans have served their
time in hell,
Emerging on the sunny side of pain,
Taking with them always shards of night.
Even in the midst of their delight,
Rich in all that love and luck can gain,
Armed memories rise that know their weakness well.
Now death joins the damned ones in their cell
'Ere we can remove them from the slain,
Snuffing out their suffering with our light.
Days and years diminish not the blight,
As only those who've been there can explain,
Yet walking by the side of those who
fell.
Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.
