Desmond Doss

Desmond Doss

Conscientious objector —
chicken, craven, yellow belly.
Refused to kill for the Noble Cause.

Other braver soldiers taunted, ridiculed, spat,
questioned his manhood and patriotism.
Withstanding glares, the coward stood and smiled.

When gunshots echoed around Okinawa,
wounded four times,
Doss refused to capitulate.
While braver souls ran for cover,
the coward continued to stand and smile.

No shots fired and no one harmed.
Seventy-five lives saved.
Doss marched through the Fires of Hell
and revealed his True Colors.


15 lines
free verse
prompt: resilience
background history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Doss#:~:text=Doss%20further%20distinguishe...
written for:

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Plugged in: "Poetry Newsletter (June 17, 2020)"