Been There Bunch
We had ourselves a time last night
the card game bordered on theft,
but there was no trouble at all thank God
the losers paid up and left.
The younger men with wives and kids
went home to their early nights,
with their egos went the worry
of there being any fights.
We old divorcees and widowers
would stay until the dawn,
there being no comforts left at home
all of them long since gone.
Alone except for each other
we share an age old bond,
gruff old men with ailments
our camaraderie has grown fond.
We know better but it’s too late
nobody listens anymore,
making the same old mistakes we did
trashing marriages and fighting wars.
Our poker is penny ante
like our income and politics,
others ended up with the money
while we were getting our kicks.
All of us have stood at the forefront
with weapons or tools in hand,
to build a better safer world
we never broke or ran.
Suffering mud and disrespect
long hours with aching feet,
facing up to the challenges
refusing to be beat.
Companies governments and exes
stripped us to the bone,
taking all we had salted away
even the comforts of home.
But we know for certain in our hearts
the kind of race we’ve run,
finishing without gain or glory
still convinced we won.
Because our nation stands intact
where our children are living free,
built with nerve and sweat and blood
and that’s reward enough for me.
Copyright © Bob Quinn | Year Posted 2012
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