A Soldiers Poem On His Way Home From Battle Poem by Frank James Ryan Jr...fjr

A Soldiers Poem On His Way Home From Battle - Poem by Frank James Ryan Jr (FjR)


____ P R O L O G U E ______

A wings full of warriors were saved,
a hamlets full of others met Death.
War is anathema, in victory or defeat,
but when your morals and Heart speak
that there be no other recourse,
You must fight to win, and, nothing less.
You cannot fight not to lose or to hold serve.
Is there a difference, you ask?
Yes, there is, oh, yes there is.
It's spelled V I E T N A M!
Yet, to this day, despite the fact
that over 58,000 American soldiers
returned home in tin boxes to be buried
in the Country they loved, so dearly,
Vietnam was not acknowledged as a War
but instead it was and is still considered
a 'conflict'! A CONFLICT? !
That's an argument usually among friends,
with ne're a punch thrown, a blooded nose
or slap in the face, no less a shot fired
with intent to kill.

Shame on each member of the committee
who approved this disgraceful decision,
sullying what each American soldier
was asked to do...and did so,
at perpetual risk to their lives
so that an ally country could enjoy
the same Freedom and Liberty that we do.

This prosaic poem is for all men and women
who gave their lives to what they believed in,
without waver or pause...Warrior, each one.
You are NOT nor will you ever be forgotten.
Your actions, your sacrifice and heroism
LIVE as so your Souls do in a far better place.

God Bless The United States of America!

_______________________________________
__ ___ The P O E M ______

The touch-down was irascible
in mood, in tone, in nascence,
metal wings cutting off tree-tops;
breeze became wind, wind became Kansas,
swamp tips severed and strewn about,
in a funnel of multi-green dust,
the landing lights so resplendent,
reflecting up and off the steel
like the spin of an orb in circle-
'round the three suns of Saturn.

Oh, Metal-Bird you sing loud, yet sweet,
repetitious vibrations, so friendly your choir
with your faded long stripes
and bullet shot stars,
red, white and blue
tattooed to your chest,
black hawk, I will love you forever;
thank you for taking me home from the battle.


FJR-MMXV