Broken Soldier

As a child he played soldiers, Marched them gaily off to war, As a young man he joined them As so many had done before. He was sent off to places He wished he’d never been And he saw some sights He wished he’d never seen He performed some some acts He wished he could undo But they told him he was fighting To defend the rights of folk like you. He finished his engagement Still a relatively young man And dealt with the memories The way the resilient can Now so many years later The bad dreams won’t go And he’s become the kind man That nobody wants to know. He wanders the streets to escape The voices screaming in his head From some of the things he’s done And some of the things he’s said, And he sees your disgust When he tries to escape in booze And he’s sorry if he offends you but You’ve never walked in his shoes. The actions of a man return To haunt him when he’s older Like so many he’s become just Another unwanted broken soldier .