Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Sometimes we need to change our language, poetry to heal, this poem comes from that experience recently....

How does one surprise God?

How does one surprise God?
I have heard the door or gate is not locked, always open

This poem may be hard to hear…
as it is to write or read, but we need to know
Our vets are surprising God these days
by alarming numbers…

Every day I think of a vet I knew,
he told me about the river boat he was on,
the murky river water, many small boats alongside…
action all around
He was a sailor on a ship
What the hell was he doing on a River Boat, he often asked, even now
Can’t remember the name of the river,
but it was Nam…
That is all one has to say

How does one surprise God?
I have heard the door or gate is not locked, it is always open

The Trauma of death, destruction, shooting at people
who often do not shoot back but run…in the wrong place you say
why are we there anyways?
not our name you shout, well it is…

How does one surprise God?
I have heard the door or gate is not locked, always open

You come home, home from war…
you are different now
No one seems to know that,
“but glad your back bro”…they say

That seems to be how it goes my vet friends tell me,
Yes, you are home
but then there is the addiction, not of killing but of forgetting

Some will ask, again and again, the images are always there,
We ask ourselves, why do I drink so much,
those pills sure help
Anger, who me, you just piss me off, no wait
Ya, I am angry but why? 

Help me, no I won’t tell you,
Boom! what the hell is that? Fireworks…
A Scream! Shit watch out, a grandchild crying…
On edge, trying to let it go…

How does one surprise God?
I have heard the door or gate is not locked, always open, we know…

Then a day comes for some,
No hope, unhappy, lonely, sometimes angry,
an emptiness, even though one is loved

the time comes to report…
Full uniform
Out in the woods, away from it all
There is that sense of being at attention, for the last time…

I can surprise God, sorry, got to go, the pain, the memories, are too much…
Oh my God!

By Ko shin, in memory of a Vet I knew

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