Once a Hero

He devastated foreign pastures As a cog in a well oiled evil wheel A nameless legalized conqueror They praised his endless courage Reckless bravery under command Following orders no questions asked The contest was rigged in his favour A mega machine against a few guns Foes fell like pins in a bowling alley He rolled the dice over life and demise Life was cheap at the price of a bullet He pulled the trigger as if he had been At the shooting gallery in his hometown Remembered his childhood sweetheart And the pink teddy bear he gave her A few rag dolls survived in the ruins Life was a thunderous blast for the killer Until a land mine felled his glorious quest Did not feel much no time to beg for mercy A soldier ground into a desert of pain Thus the invader unceremoniously vanished Into the dust of memory’s timeless barrel Only for some other pawn to take his place Posthumously they awarded a Purple Heart In pride pinned a medal onto his imaginary chest Though he had none left to feature the badge His coffin was empty and bugles betrayed The meaning of a star spangled banner Draped over the fact that he had no grave The red white and blue of the flag hurt her eyes Soon enough his children forgot their father The widow struggled with his merit under fire Shed tears onto the ribbon bestowed in vain Crushed the award in a grinder of sadness They say time is a limitless healer for mourning And that this too will pass for a grieving soul That warriors are not immortal in light of the cause For a cross is forever and blood dries in the sun But when she sees no valid reason for his demise She becomes a miserable ghost slaughtered by proxy As she retrieves a shred of resilience and braves demons His and hers and faces a dim smile on a fading photo Anger turns into guilt for she too had supported the war A white flag holds more credence than shredded bones 05th May 2020