What the World Has Taught

He signed the waiver

and took the course

an inexperienced 17

Deployed

His childhood friend

kept in touch only

to grasp a small part

of the war.

A morsel of information

to display at practice.

But, soon college frat parties

pulled him away

The world had taught him

to drown the true horrors 

in hangovers.

His old man

stiffly acknowledged a goodbye

and figured the boy would come home

dead or alive, eventually

Charred memories stored

in a hardened heart

left his hopes low

and his prayers few

The world had taught him

not to expect anything more

His dear mother

was dutiful in sending

monthly care packages

gaining him the envy

of each brother beside him

And she prayed to the Heavens

to allow her boy to come home

but soon a divorce and a new boyfriend

changed how she felt

The world had taught her

that she deserved it. 

Lastly, his lover

devoted in faith and love

wrote daily to him

and cried openly to the world

cursing the injustice

The soul promise of engagement upon return

kept her faith strong for a few years

Until the world had taught her

to stop waiting for the hopeless

and to embrace the new pleasures

A broken soldier returned

with fewer limbs than deployed with

and the world had nothing left to say.