The Veteran
Brothers-in-Arms
Lying in his bed a tremble from drafts in the night
He remembers the mournful call of a lone bugler
And Sam, Johnny, Nicky and Pete, their laughter
Lighting a tiny corner of a life he will never forget.
...
He shivers at the bitter memories of Bastogne at Christmas
And the bodies at Malmedy, Büllingen and Baugnez where
The Waffen SS left them to lie in the cold winter snows
For no prisoners did their swift columns keep.
...
He remembers tears of relief shed when the skies filled
With B17s and 24s instead of clouds and dropped glorious food,
Medicine and weapons to hold the line and the Third Army's
Tanks with the clak, clak, clak of their tread breaking the siege.
...
The next day Nicky somehow found a cake and poked
A flare in it sparkling furiously like the Fourth of July,
They all laughed wildly, December Twenty-seventh,
Still his favorite birthday, a man of twenty tender years.
...
In Alsace Pete fell on a German grenade, Johnny losing
A leg to a mine. And that funny, smart-ass Nicky and loyal
Sam died of wounds in the Ruhr Valley leaving him alone
To snow-capped glory when they captured Hitler's retreat.
...
For the 101st the war ended in Berchtesgaden, but for him
It still rages on in the brokenness of an old man's dreams.
In his memory Nicky, Sam and Pete are forever young, and
Johnny dead twenty years, the loss of his last true friend.
...
In a month and a half, if he lives, family will gather to
Fete him on his one hundredth birthday, but now his
Only wish that they had all made it home hale and whole,
Together growing old to share the best stories of their lives.
About the Creator
John Cox
Twisted teller of mind bending tales. I never met a myth I didn't love or a subject that I couldn't twist out of joint. I have a little something for almost everyone here. Cept AI. Aint got none of that.
Comments (17)
Beautiful story of sacrifices that should NEVER be forgotten. EXCELLENT poem. It should have made a Top Story!
Such wishes are sacred, though they be too late to grant, for they keep alive that hope that someday, for someone, they will be true, and, after all, isn't that what they all fought for? Well-wrought, John. A welcome read with my morning coffee on a cold day.
John, this is so poignant and sad. Our boys shot dead or tortured, and their friends blown apart next to them. I've been to Bertchesgarden—it is beautiful. Have you been? After Desert Storm,they took the troops from Katterbach and their families for a big party to what used to be the American hotel there—it got turned back to Germany. We were 45 minutes from Nurenburg, but still Bavaria, and when we drove further south, it reminded me of WA state with all the alps. Great job on this!!
This is absolutely incredible work, John. I was immediately drawn into the darkness of a war-ravaged soldier, so eloquently communicated. Raw, tragic, and rich- a masterclass of a poem. Thank you for sharing!
Oh my, this is such an incredible piece. I cannot imagine the horrors of war. My grandfather (and his brothers) as well as my own father were/are veterans. Thank you for writing this. It's imperative that the things soldiers endure are humanized and not just flat ideas on a page. Brilliant work :)
This was beautifully sad, I think the line that kept me from crying was this one.( In his memory Nicky, Sam and Pete are forever young) This whole piece took me on a journey, one I didn’t mind travelling one. It was so well paced, I like the sounds imagined by your choice of words and how it tied the poem and the story together.
You’ve captured a history and life lived with the weight of both heavy and hearty memories in just a few lines. Really fantastic work, John!
A power piece, weighted down with the pathos--the more casual the pathos, the heavier it is.
So tragically poignant… beautifully written.💙
A beautiful tribute, and emotional poem. As long as we remember, they still live. My Dad lived to 90, (WW2) the only stories he told us about the war was his time in training camp. I think because he bonded with other soldiers. Other than that we don’t know anything.
Absolutely bursting with deep emotion
This tugged so hard at my heartstrings. Such a poignant and emotional poem!
A timely poem, John. With all the loss that war brings, why are we still fighting?
Sir, this is both tragic and beautiful! not being someone with a strong background in the armed forces, and without close relatives generationally who did, i can only imagine what it was like based on history books, docus and stories people have shared with me! this had so much packed into it and captured the camaraderie and total horror of it all! another of your mots important and best pieces! very well done, had a lump in my throat and tear in my eye by the end!
History fascinates and terrifies me. So many untold stories. So many lives taken from us. All sacrificed because of self-centered ideas born in the mind of greedy, close-minded and evil men (and women). So glad you told their story! Was this an entry for one of the new challenges?
Such a dynamic poem, John. I can only imagine how brave men must have felt in the face of such adversity and death, haunted by such insidious memories. What a wonderful tribute, though heartfelt and sad. December of 1944, Bastogne. This reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas and war movies, Joyeux Noel (2005), though its truce takes place during the first and not the second world war. Really love your poem.
This year on December 26th marks the eightieth anniversary of the end of the siege at Bastogne, Belgium.