No More
I remember that Sunday night
When I got the call from my Mom
She called to let us know
My brother was wounded in Vietnam
I went to my car
Sat in my Chevy and cried
I almost lost my brother
And remembered two friends who had died
I had served my time in the Navy
But believed the war was insane
So I took off my dog tags
On my neck I put a peace chain
Too many friends had been wounded
Serving a country that didn't care
Troops mistreated when they came home
They should have never been sent there
Troops served with courage and honor
And deserved a better fate
No one should have sacrificed so much
Only to come home to anger and hate
The average age of the dying
In that jungle was nineteen
An unjust war that split our nation
In a way it had never seen
I stopped an old friend's mother
On Broad Street one Friday night
Asked if his wounds were healing
And was he doing all right
She said there's a lot of damage
From that God forsaken war
When he goes to sleep each evening
He's back in that combat zone once more
Vietnam will never end for many of those who served
Wounds that never heal and no freedom was preserved
Our young were all expendable
To the government elite
War brought soaring profits
Neither victory nor defeat
I visited a grave site
Of a friend I'd known for years
One night he took his own life
I held back my tears
For him it was all over
The nightmares from the war
He left a wife and child
But he could fight this war no more
Just another statistic, no justice we demand
Disrespected and forgotten in his native land
When do we stop and say no more
When it's for someone's bottom line that we fight a war
Ran into an old friend and listened to what he said
I go to church on Sundays but sometimes I wish I was dead
I keep seeing all that blood and I still smell napalm
If I fall asleep at night, I'm back in Vietnam
This country still fights unjust wars not trying to make amends
For the soldier covered in dirt and blood, the suffering never ends
In our nation's defense we should fight a war
For any other reasons we should say no more.
For my brother, classmates and friends who served in Vietnam.
Copyright © Vince Suzadail Jr. | Year Posted 2017
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