The River
I’m now in
After 20 years in the army, I gave all I had
to give.
It’s nearly 23 years since I left that war,
I really leave it, I’m no longer sure.
As I walk with my dogs and startled by a
sound,
I quiet my dogs; I kneel close to the ground.
I gaze along the river; calm, so ever mild,
I search the river intently, like a mother for
her child.
In the past or now the present I sense the
enemy close by,
The fastest to react will insure the other to
die.
My labs looking at me with trust and love in
their eyes,
Then I realize what’s happening, I begin to
cry.
As we begin our walk home on our acreage of
tract,
I know my war is over, but on occasion I still
look back.
Like most veterans of combat, I can’t seem to
let go,
But like the VA Doctors tell me, the healing
will come slow.
Michael
D. Monfrooe
14 May 1995
My father died.