the one left behind

the one left behind

the draft woke me

coming through the slightly open window

i was a number

becoming a soldier

becoming a statistic

becoming a name

On a memorial

but no one recognizes the name

my name

much like the unknown soldier

my plot is marked with a number

a statistic

a draft hurries through the graveyard

chills the young woman

placing a single rose against the tombstone

an onlooker queries her name

just before she disappears

a mirage in a black dress

with a number sewn into the hem

of what was once

her life

his life

their life.

erin-cilberto

1/5/24

Reviews

[Relic]

I remember vets walking around with shirts that said, Vietnam, the land god forgot. I'm sure throughout the years names were forgotten among the masses.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, but the idea of them will always be with us, will always haunt us...and especially those of us who lived through that time.
thank you, Relic...I appreciate you.
j.