The Veteran (a poem)

 

George Patton knew death
guts and stomach hanging from a branch
like Dali’s Persistence of Memory
time melting down
with artillery explosions

  The poet would shake Heine's bloody hand
in Valhalla somewhere beyond the River Styx
where Custer, his brother the two time Medal of Honor recipient
and Geronimo could consider if he deserved a third
that day on the bloody knoll

  Heroes of countless wars on land and sea
that reflect a futility of life ending too soon
so waves may cover other waves
Ernest Evans and the USS Johnston
seven destroyers took on eight Japanese  heavy cruisers, four battleships and the Yamato
to save lives, to sacrifice their own
a native American commander defending his land

  The poor man’s Christ sacrificing his life
so that others may live
without the omniscience of God
knowing no better way
many can't be sure of intelligence
when bullets fly.