Veterans Day
By Franklin Price
11/11/2021
Today's the day we honor
All the veterans to the last
Those who are still with us
And those already passed
To those who gave a little
To protect us from the fall
To volunteers and draftees
Who protected one and all
Not all of them went off to war
But swore an oath that if they did
They would give their lives for country
They're not the ones who ran and hid
Many lost their lives while serving
Many went and served their time
Some think to wear a uniform
Is to kill, committing crime.
Those of you, who think that way,
Should leave the grand old USA
The veterans who protected you
Are why the country's here today.
I'm proud I am a veteran
Honoring both lad and lass
To the vets from all the services
I salute and raise my glass
a “flower child” danced through life
so many years ago
cares were lost when she took a “toke”
and “passed the pipe” around feeling “way cool”
wishes for “peace” and “luv” she gave freely
but “pigs” were her enemies
even “flower power” couldn’t help her rise above
the brutal force used on students at Kent State
“Four dead in Ohio” became her mantra
when the National Guard surrounded her campus
fallout from Kent State spread nationwide
“Gimme Shelter” from the storm at home
while “Charlie” was pursued by draftees
Vietnam, a place she had never seen,
but the flower child’s spirit suffered
each time a son or father was “sent home in a box”
she wanted all to “live long and prosper”
in a fantasy world where love bloomed like “Strawberry Fields”
but the “flower child’s” petals fell as she grew older
it was time to “get real” after all
*Entry for Craig Cornish’s “Talk That Way” contest.
By Carolyn Devonshire about life in the 1970s
Sad song singing as the sickle keeps swinging,about Dead dogs and draftees
Marching mad miles of misery
through trenches of terror and maniacle mazes...on the whims of warlords in psychopathic phases
Genocidal generals make slaves of the free...they salute the sadistic
Dead dogs and draftees
Hunted and haunted tormented and taunted
Every twist and every turn leaves them ugly and unwanted
Rich rulers counting money...never minding the means
While killer kings send them off to their doom,deep in jungles of jeapordy
Hidden in darkness you can feel their disease
Life is defeat and death victory...decay in death deserts
Dead dogs and draftees
Deformed and disfigured...some never delivered
society quivers as reality screams
In the valley of vultures...no sound in this scene
Your worst nightmare is their daily dream...rest in peace 4ever
Dead dogs and draftees