Shell Shock

“Shell Shock”

(for my father J. D. Bowles
U.S. Navy Seabees- World War II)



I can remember, at an early age,
    Hearing him cry out in the night.
       Defending himself again against some 
            Threatening encounter, 
                 there on the beach of that foreign shore.

It was as if all protection had vanished,
    And he was there, alone,
           Quivering in the dark.

Momentarily, he became a whimpering child,
     Retreating at night, and struggling by day
          To retain some semblance of a manhood
                That had been battered and stripped away
                    By the savagery of War.

He was lost to us…forever,
     Destined to battle his own private demons,
        As best he could, 
          All alone.

No entity could reach that deeply inside him
    And extract that gnawing orb of anguish that welled within.
       It was a pain he must bear alone.

He fought the good fight,
     So many, many years ago,
          But we, 
            As his family, 
               Failed to win his War.



Bj pearce
[email protected]
05-01-2012

warworld war iifree verse

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