A young veteran is the marshall of a local parade.. 1st Place, Veterans' Contest Aug. 2010 |
The Veteran He sat there quietly, nestled among the crowd His thoughts were many, but said little out loud A flag of his nation was draped across his knee, It was there in plain view, for everyone to see He patiently sat and watched the floats glide past The marching bands were great, but went by a bit fast The colorful clowns brought a smile to his face, And for just a moment, he forgot his place Often he’d raise a hand and wave to someone near At other times he seemed distracted, as if he wasn’t here He looked a bit uncomfortable with the attention that he got But appeared resigned to this, as if it was his lot He peered down the street looking with eyes so bright He wanted to see something special in that days sunlight He tried not to show how anxious he was to see And sat there as if in a trance, waiting patiently When he finally spied it approaching, he slowly rose to his feet It seemed to take an effort to get up from his seat People offered help, one gave an arm on which to lean But his eyes never left his prize, in the days sunlight they gleamed As it passed his place, he raised a hand in salute His eyes glistened with tears, but he stood there resolute He saluted the flag as he’d done so many times before He honored the flag, defended it on many foreign shores When it was all over, and everyone else had moved on His father looked down at him and said, “I’m proud you’re my son. It’s been 4 years since you left and went off to the war, Now you’re home safe and sound, with us forever more.” The young veteran smiled and looked off into the clear air, Then slowly sat again in his powered wheelchair The war had cost him dearly, but he was still alive, Unlike many of his comrades, who’d fought and lost their lives His legs had been shattered beyond any hope of repair To stand he used prosthetics, but was never in despair He always had a smile and encouraged all he met To accept what life offered them, live with no regrets It had been an honor to be Grand Marshall of this parade But with everything done for the day, he slowly left the stage As he once again gazed into the now cloud filled sky He envisioned all his military friends, slowly passing by Jim Dorrell 3/11/07 |