Remember Me

Remember Me

By Curtis Bennett
January 29, 2019

I was once the pride of this country,
The healthy, the young, the strong and brave,
Then I quickly became the acceptable casualty,
In my country’s undeclared war,
In the name of national interest,
A country where I was too young to vote.

I went because I was still too young,
To know any better,
Though others cleverly refused,
Or ran away to hide.

I never once dreamed my own government,
Would ever lie to its own people,
But I was mistaken and they did for years.

I fought their war in a hell for one year,
Then came home and found another hell,
Awaiting from the very people and country,
Who determined I go in the first place.

Then their war, suddenly became mine,
And I was the convenient scapegoat!

Today I am the broken bodies and minds,
Shunted off, out of sight, behind heavy doors,
Of VA hospitals and mental wards to die.

I am in wheel chairs and braces, in hospital beds;
I walk the streets; I wander the railroad tracks,
I sleep beneath the stars.