Best Warhouse Poems
I used to pass an empty house
On my way home from school
I was only ten years old then
I heard that older people lived
There
But I never saw them.
Found old photos
Showed them to Dad
Where’d you get them he asked?
Found them in the old house I said
Then he and mother spoke
In the privacy of their bedroom
I saw the shadows of their arms
Move
And point toward my room
This was the 1950’s
Times were different
And some things
Were just never talked about.
When the old house was torn down
I went inside
To look
And to explore
Kicking an odd piece of dirt
The soft rotted wood moved
And something flipped up
Bones
Some as big as my leg.
But it was the damp smell of decay
That I remembered
Vividly
Even at that time
When anything new
Was always exciting
This was different
I had not experienced anything like this before
But I would years later
Ten years later
A decade to wait.
I was In Country
Two tours
Separated from my group
Never found
Missing in action
But really I’m dead
Been like this for years
All that’s left
Of me
Are bone fragments
Part of a femur
And a scratch of faded cloth
Scattered over a vast green landscape
At the edge of a jungle.
Occasionally I hear digging sounds
Not the heavy shovel kind
But a gentle probing
Of earth
Someone intent on finding something
But not wishing to disturb
They haven’t found me
Yet
So I still wait.
I never got used to the damp smell of decay
But just the same I take solace
In that smell
Because it reminds me of
Long ago
When I was just a schoolboy
Coming home.
Way aback upon the fog of the swamp and the itch of the tree
lay a beautiful lady that no one ever got to see.
She was a runaway of sorts but not by her will.
She ran to stay alive so that she would not be the next kill.
Now she sits in her little house with her grandfather trying to do what she can do
but she hasn't seen a soul since five years old and her grandfather had given up very
much to.
Her grandfather said it was an army that came through her town that carried off everyone
who spoke her tongue.
Out of the bed she was pulled and they began to run.
They had heard the stories that were put by her grandfather into her ear.
Stories of unspeakable things, ones that brought panic and fear.
Her grandfather lifted her in his arms and ran as fast as he could frantic to stay alive.
It wasn't until they were well into the woods he realized the others had been left behind.
For the first time she'd seen a grown man cry.
Then he hugged her closer and through the woods they began to fly.
Now they sit in their home waiting for any news.
The people in his town knew this house and she waited for any clues.
That hope had gone along with her grandfather's mind.
The house was so far back it seemed just to hard to find.
One day the beautiful lady saw something move and out of the house she ran.
It was a man.
He looked at her with an admiring face.
His eyes began to gaze.
The woman was beautiful but she never knew.
She had nothing to compare herself to.
The man was dressed in very unusual clothes.
She heard something ring and was shocked to see a cellular phone.
She wondered what had happen over the past fifteen years since she'd been here.
A phone with no cords. How *****?
He hung up the phone and she ran to him "What's going on with the Jews in Germany?"
"What is going on with the war?"
The man looked very concerned and knew not what to say for sure.
"Ma'am, That war has been over for many years. It's 2004."
The Statue is located on the Court House Lawn, New Castle, Indiana
A bronzed statue of a soldier standing tall with weapon drawn,
Has stood for generations on the Henry County Court House lawn.
'Tis representative of gallant men and the sacrifices they have made,
To defend The Constitution and from that cause they never strayed!
It embodies the national character of men who suffered horrible strife,
Alas, many losing sight and limb, others forfeiting precious life.
They've heard the thunderous roar of cannon and the muskets' rattle
And have seen the mighty clash of steel and the gruesome gore of battle!
It symbolizes the fortitude to press on with undaunted determination
To preserve the precious liberties we enjoy in this magnificent nation!
They fought to ensure that The Grand Old Flag yet remains unfurled,
As a beacon of hope for humankind throughout this troubled world!
It reminds us that old men steer affairs and tend to dream and scheme;
Alas, young men must carry out their follies, forfeiting life supreme.
Courageous men fought at Gettysburg and on alien soil at great expense.
To set peoples free from the yoke of tyranny, they took a noble stance.
It captures the soldiers' fervent pleas to abide by The Golden Rule,
That humankind in brotherhood would strive to be less cruel.
To ensure our precious freedoms, they bore hardships we'll never know;
So much, so very much to each of these brave souls we owe!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
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