Slurred Emotions

Who Killed Tillman?

7-15-08

The government doesn't know.
They forgot
that a man in his position
gave up his lifestyle
in exchange for his life.

They forgot.

Rumsfeld championed him
and left him to bleed
from fratricidal wounds
while saying nothing.
Saying nothing is lying
when you know the facts.
You took a man's life.

They forgot.

A local man...
I don't remember his name...
but he came back from the war
bruised and battered and
barely able to stand.
He decided to go off to college
and make a way for himself
to see his way out of
the decisions he made
to defend this country
and start a new life.
Disabled and done with it,
the government still called him back
without a thank-you for the last time.
God dammit he sued them.
God damn right.
God damn he won.

They forgot.

What'll happen to the rest of them?
It doesn't happen to us.
I don't have to worry about a war
that shouldn't be happening.
But I don't forget.
The have-not who went
to better themselves
come back worse off
with an infinitismal amount more to deal with.
Who remembers that?
The ones who have to face that,
day after day after day,
whether they've been there
or care for someone who is
         or was
there. They don't forget.

A man. Any man. Any woman.
No longer a person but a number.
Do not forget
about the conveniences
we can hold on to.
And do not forget
how the government has theirs.

They forgot.