Private John Kriticos

Across his thin body There's a towel to help With the food that falls down As he's feeding himself His legs are immobile And his hands barely work But he smiles at me keenly As if none of it hurts He counts off the people Being fed by a nurse And with an honest expression Says "things could be worse" There's a plaque in his bedroom With medals to show What he did for his country Seven deckades ago And the stories were true But now that he's older I've seen for myself My grandpa's a soldier By: Kyle Ezra Kriticos