Shadows

We can't escape the bad or the good done in a life.

 





























Shadows
 
My sister told me. "You  have changed. "
She told me. "You saw too much s**t and your mind and eyes are cold.."
 
I told her,.
"War isn't personal.
You do what you are told. Try to forget and move on"
 
 I kissed her forehead.
I told her. "War was easy.
This world falling apart around me.
I don't know what to do.?
That the crazy s**t I don't understand."
 
Up in the morning before five.
We don't need no sunshine.
 Organization, discipline, three  square meals a day.
 Old SGT. say. "It will be all OK."
 
Young boss at work asked me too many questions.
 I told  him it is not for him to understand.
 
When you stand tall at attention. Salute a M-16, boots and helmet of a dead soldier.
You join a club.
The soldiers that lived must carry on with their buddies stories and memories.
Drink a beer on the day of their friends death. Can't allow them to be forgotten.
.
 
Lying on cold ground.
 Waiting for a hidden enemies.
 You slapped your magazine to insure it is loaded right.
 You light up a cigarette and hope all things will be alright.
 
Going to Iraq with my gun.
Going to kill some Iraqi sons.
 
 Generals sent Division of soldiers.
Names don't matter.
Reaching for more stars.
 
Mama and Papa sit by the phones.
Wife and family pray for the day their soldier come home safe and sound.
 
Soldiers talk about kids and woman.
Takes up most of our time.
 
No-one talks of dying.
 Ain't no race or religion.
 Protect your friend back and he watched your back.
 
Soldier do right and wrong things.
A lucky man can walk away from  all the s**t and forget.
 
The shadow of war find you one day.
 
 I stood with  a mother of my friend killed in Iraq.
  She  held me up.
 I saluted her son's gravestone.
 
I go to the corner bar with other Veterans.
Drink to friends not here and missed.

Maybe baby sister is right.
The shadows are always with me.
 
                                   COYOTE
                        

Author's Note

Old poem. Soldiers must insure the old one's are took care of. One day we will be the old one's. Any mistakes. Please assist.

Reviews

[E.H. Monroe]

we have this vision of what happens "over there". then the folks "over there" come back here, we throw a parade and then tell em to f**k off because we have better things to do. The war against the enemy is just a war against people who were raised by different fathers and mothers, different gods and rules.
and that creeping shadow of war..s**t man i dont even know that f****r..but i know guys and gals who do, and he is a rancid drinking buddy who runs his fingers down a scar on his face and reminds you you havent seen the s**t like he has. well f**k him.
never any mistakes in a coyote piece...just reality that makes real go...damn that s**t is real.

i salute you sir

[tanaya]

This poem has so much power in it! Its emotions are wonderful! I absoloult love it!

[Erinne S.]

This was powerful, really powerful. You had such emotion behind every word, which brings a unique life to this piece. I loved it!
Fantastic job

~Erinne

[~Sarah~ Idríel T..]

A amazing & powerful poem! Really touching words.

[kij143]

WOW ! :o . This was really powerful. I feel like it demonstrates well that your past cant always be forgotten, that its more of a stain on your heart that follows you through life. thanks for sharing this with me.

[Odile RAZAFIMANDIMBY]

Thank you for this touching and powerful poem.

[Gomer LePoet]

I never had to go to war. I'm glad, because I think the shadows would never leave.
I used to feel guilty that I was not putting my life in jeopardy like so many of my brothers. I had desk job working with computers. You know what Coyote, I still feel the guilt sometimes and I don't know why. So the shadows even got to me and I wasn't even there. Thanks for sharing brother.

[light and ashes]

People dieing and destruction is something that happens everyday somewhere around the world. It is sad to think about the heartache of the world but is just a sad fact. It is a reminder that life is short and not to take it for granted. Soldiers are forced to see destruction and brutality even from their own hands everyday. Often they also have to see the friends that they love die right in front of them. I am not saying that this wrong or right. However peace is worth much more than war. It is not surprising that such trauma from being in this situation would mess with someone. Love the last two lines. PTSD is the condition that this situation has caused in you, awesome God bless you.

[Antonio Valentino]

the last line grabbed me by the throat and squeezed out a gasp..

I love your writing buddy, it couldn't be more honest and sincere..

I'm sorry for all you went through, no matter what you feel, you and every other soldier that sacrifices their time for our country, putting their lives in harms way, you are all heroes..

you are a warrior poet my friend.. whose light shines softly over the heart of thi land..

[emmajoy]

There's no frilly drama in this post, it's truth, written loud and clear - and, very touchingly. You never hide reality, John,and this is no exception. You, like millions of others, have seen the scarlet flow of war, the fearful mosaics of bodies, you know the sights and sounds inside and out, they're part of you. And you still nudge us into remembering with both empthay and fine, fine writing.

Somehow the inclusion of your sister takes this poem into a more personal but controlled frame of mind and place.

[jeanie]

Have you read Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse 5? I love that book; it's about the Dresden fire bombing and an author who was published before it. So, he had pressure to write about it, but it f**ked him up so much he ended up writing it about a character who is abducted by aliens. It sounds crazy when I describe it, but it was really a book about post-traumatic stress disorder, and the havoc that it wrecks upon your life when the event is in the past.
Your writing is like that, it is very honest and shows the truth of what people go through. You can be strong in war, but it's going back to the normal things afterwards that are hard. Keep writing!!