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Onslaught

Finally home, cheers, hugs, kisses abound My head throbs, but the fierce rage I contain On hair-trigger alert, my inner storm starts to pound As a good soldier, I've learned to take the pain Family and friends are strangers somehow Their laughter and words sound rehearsed and staged Their eyes betray fear of who I am now In their lives I can no longer be engaged I flinch when car lights flash and horns sound With dread, all night I pace the floor Sunrise, I depart, Greyhound station bound Too lost to be found, I've no home anymore Written 9/14/22 Pick-A-Title, Vol 32 - Poetry Contest Sponsor: Edward Ibeh "ONSLAUGHT"

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Edward Ibeh

Date: 10/17/2022 4:03:00 PM

Amazing piece, Robert:-) Heartiest congratulations on your win in my contest!

Robert Gorelick
Date: 10/18/2022 10:28:00 AM

Thank you, Edward for the honorable mention, and thank you for your service! Robert

I Am Anaya

Date: 10/15/2022 8:46:00 AM

Congratulations on your Honorable Mention Robert! Such a touching story of the traumas linked to war. Anaya

Robert Gorelick
Date: 10/18/2022 10:30:00 AM

Appreciate your empathetic comment Anaya! Robert

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 10/3/2022 10:36:00 AM

Just read what you said to Pangie. Thanks for your service!

Robert Gorelick
Date: 10/3/2022 1:40:00 PM

Thank you, Andrea! Robert

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 10/3/2022 10:35:00 AM

Yes, this is a good portrayal of what happens to some soldiers. So realistic that I have to wonder if you were in the service. Well done.

Robert Gorelick
Date: 10/3/2022 1:39:00 PM

So much trauma is hidden deep under the surface, and only visible when it's too late to help. Thank you, Andrea! Robert

Panagiota Romios

Date: 9/30/2022 5:24:00 AM

Very touching. I can understand this because I have seen movies with Denzel Washington about being in war. And the devastation to people like you. People do not understand, war is sometimes necessary. Don’t people understand, that without WW1 and WW#2, All of Europe would be Fascist! Don’t people remember Pearl Harbor? Bless you for service, your courage, dear poet! Don’t they remember 9/11? I think not. Panagiota xx

Panagiota Romios
Date: 10/3/2022 2:07:00 PM

Thank you for your clarification, Robert. Pangie

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/30/2022 7:57:00 AM

I was in the service although I never saw combat, my poem relates to a friend who came back from Vietnam destroyed in mind and spirit. Thank you, Panagiota for your visit!

Valsa George

Date: 9/29/2022 8:53:00 PM

It is such a miserable feeling ! After a period of being away from home, when one returns, instead of hugs and rejoicing, if a cold shoulder is shown, it is so depressing !A soldier undergoes so much trauma. He expects some love from his family and if it is not got, that upsets his mental balance. Powerful poem, dear Robert!

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/30/2022 7:56:00 AM

I was in the service although I never saw combat, my poem relates to a friend who came back from Vietnam destroyed in mind and spirit. Thank you, Valsa for your visit!

Becky Forbes

Date: 9/28/2022 7:21:00 PM

WOW! Straight to the heart of the unseen effects of the bombs. Thank you for this perspective!!

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/30/2022 7:55:00 AM

I was in the service although I never saw combat, my poem relates to a friend who came back from Vietnam destroyed in mind and spirit. Thank you, Becky for your visit!

Michael Tor

Date: 9/16/2022 5:26:00 AM

Robert so much you have shared is the absolute truth. This is the result of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder you describe that affects many who have gone to war. It is sad that we have to engage in such devastating causes. When reading this It reminded me of a Youtube channel called Stranger Than Fiction where the truth is shared in the reasons wars are started. It is a part of history that is not shared. I encourage you to watch the videos. Your depiction of a soldiers return to society...

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/30/2022 7:54:00 AM

I was in the service although I never saw combat, my poem relates to a friend who came back from Vietnam destroyed in mind and spirit. Thank you, Michael for your visit!

Michael Tor
Date: 9/16/2022 5:33:00 AM

is remarkable and is a fact of life as you so eloquently have shared. The ending " I've no home anymore." When I read I thought of first the soldiers way of not relating to society because the pain he has gone through and also how many Veterans have mental issues form the war, it robs them of their emotions and leaves them in so much turmoil they become homeless and therefore not have a home. Excellent Poetry Robert best wishes for the contest...

Elizabeth Mccann

Date: 9/15/2022 3:39:00 AM

The debt we owe these men can never be totally repaid. We must do our best to help them and to keep from adding to their number in future conflict.

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/15/2022 4:35:00 PM

Absolutely. We must also be thoroughly aware of the ravages of war, before we commit troops into battle.

Victor Buhagiar

Date: 9/15/2022 1:13:00 AM

War never solves anything.

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/15/2022 4:32:00 PM

You are right. We need to find an alternative solution, but I don't know what it is.

Harry Horsman

Date: 9/14/2022 10:43:00 PM

The wrath of war effects the winners and the losers, being a war child 1943, my father gassed in Egypt, never spoke of it, neither did any of the men in my village..I understand completely the sentiment here in this, a wonderful well written and true poetry Robert...Yes it brings back so many memories.

Robert Gorelick
Date: 9/15/2022 4:43:00 PM

Your father must have served in the British Army-- fighting Rommel. It was a tremendous victory over Hitler, and you should be very proud of him. I realize that in your father's time, returning soldiers rarely talked about combat and how it affected them. All so painful and tragic. Thank you, Harry. Robert