Home of The Brave

Photograph by Dianne Woods

(to fight

                  to run)

I.

I believed

they would never

lie

        I believed

        it wasn’t my time

        to die.

I wore the uniform

proud for all

to see

          I shouted for an end

          until they came

          for me.

I left with the possibility 

I may never 

come home again.

          I left with the possibility 

          I may never 

          come home again.

The bravest thing 

I did was 

point their gun

          The bravest thing

          I ever did

          was run.

II.

I did my best 

and prayed each day

to make it home alive

          I watched the news

          and prayed each day

          my country would survive.

Each night I watched

their country 

slip away

          Each night I watched

          my republic

          in decay.

A peace sign

on my helmet

when their lies were known

           A peace sign

           on my jacket

           to bring our brothers home.

III.

When I came back

my country 

had changed

            When I came back

            my fear

            mixed with shame.

I thought that they

would welcome me 

and honor me as their own

            I thought that they

            would understand

            my choice of life or home.

But they hated me

for fighting

          and they hated me

          for running

and we hated

those in power

          as we learned

          their deceitful cunning.

I cursed my country

and cried for 

lost brothers

               I had no answers

               to offer a million 

               mourning mothers.

IV.

The Black Wall

honors the sacrifice 

but my wounds will not heal

               The history of

               my secret life 

               a lifetime to conceal.

Nightly haunting 

memories 

of wrongs they said were right

               Nights of guilty 

               suffering

               for those who would not fight.

The bravest thing

I ever did

was go

               The bravest thing

                I ever said

                was “No.”

~~/ /~~

To know war

before love

To know hate

before peace

Lives change

forever

      When memories 

won’t sleep.

Inspired by the stories of the men and women of the documentary “Vietnam “ by Ken Burns. 

Ken Owen 

September 2018    Van Niddy Press