My eyes are blinded by sins committed during war one day,

In a warrior’s memories it’s only the worst ones that replay,

The neighborhood has windows that are covered in wood,

I would hold dear the broken parents of each man if I could,

As I crawl slowly beneath the shrubs I see the old folks too,

My heart cries for the days of innocence after World War Two,

The pride of their parents has been diminished by a stone,

Broken windows at protestors hands have left Warriors alone,

I’m shivering in the darkness of the shadows that hides their sins,

Beaten by my neighbors and left in an alley this is how it begins,

My poor heart keeps watching in hopes a girl I know drives by,

We are your children’s best friend yet you yell we should die,

Death is creeping in the neighborhood under false pretense,

Seen as a draft-board letter it carries a bullet of the past tense,

Death stalks broken hearts of elders whose children died in war,

And protestors yell at neighbor’s children shouting “War! No more!”

As I stagger home from my beating that came from an old friend,

Three men and a blanket created equality that is soon to end,

Wearing boots I had given as a gift will make it easy to identify,

Children’s children are raising babies that sit alone under no eye,

Many of my friends have died at the hands of their protesting peers,

Depression with no support brings a carelessness that soon appears,

How has my life changed so much in only two horrible short years,

Signs of venomous hate towards we drafted men burns and sears,

If but a sip of water was given me from those that saw that group,

I am almost certain the other two were in my Boy Scout troop,

I have been walking these old streets hoping she will drive by,

Got a bad feeling that upon my return to the war it’s cry or die,

My heart keeps watching in hopes I will find the one open door,

I guess I should adjust to the fact that she doesn’t care anymore,

It’s not heaven I’m searching for but I seek the girl from before,

If you see her, tell her I’m in love with her and maybe, even more.

The end. July 25, 1969. By Pat