Only the Old Men Know

Only the Old Men Know

What's it like?
In the fields all day,
Sunup to sundown
A dollar's your pay,
Picking potatoes,
Stacking shocks in a row--
Only the old men know.

What's it like?
In the mines all day,
Coaldust, a lantern,
The blistered hands stay.
Seventy ton
And a timber lets go--
Only the old men know.

What's it like?
In the jungle all day,
Shrapnel, a rifle butt,
"How long must I lay?"
Guadalcanal,
The zeroes fly low--
Only the old men know.

What will it be like?
In the heat of day,
The children are men now,
No one can play.
Will they work? Will they love?
Will they fight? Will they go?
Only the old men know.

--November 5, 1985