The Battle Raged as a Distant Storm...
The
Forces Mounted to hold the Fort.
"Stand
Tall! Be sharp!", was the rallying cry...
"Get
up! Stand fast! Hold! Don't now reply!"
The dust
clouds approached...
And in
came the hoards.
Overwhelming
and frightening...
Massive,
now engorged.
They
screamed from the depths...
From
below the Fortress walls, but!
All were
now deaf...
Upon
the mounted and towered, earthen, wall.
"Come
down, give up!
Surrender
thyself!
Give
in! Look out!
You
have nothing else!"
But
from the towers....
They
threw back their responses.
Made
up of words....
To rebuff
their, now, stoutness.
"How
can you not...
Listen
to prophets?"
They
screamed from below....
"We
look only to profit...."
"Get,
out! So now,....
We can
have 'all' of your land!
From
Fortress to horizon,
Then
back here again."
"You'll
pay! We win!
There's
nothing you can do!"
But
down from the walls ...
Fall
start falling words- much like a glue.
They
are a little ...
Bit different
than most.
They
are, but, the words.....
Spoken
by 'hordes', not by 'hosts'.
The
hordes cringed....
And cried
out.
And
yelled,
"How is this fair?"
"That
you slay us with our own words now...
That
we wrote,
And
have since,
Repaired!"
Like
hot oil from Quazimoto.
It dripped
on the hordes.
And back
they began,
To Stumble
and fall.
More
threw words...
But targeted
their might.
Knowing
others get lost...,
When
the cause is for right.
Back
they moved.
And soon
into a rush.
The Centuries
stood silent.
They
watched with a hush.
But
off the hordes ran.
All
tarred and feathered.
With
their words that they spoke of,
Now gripping
like leather.
"Use
this time,...
To gather
more ammunition!"
Was
heard shouted about...
From
inside their position.
Again,
the dust clouds are there.
But something's
now different...
They
are no longer advancing...
They're
moving backwards without precision.
So here
we stand...
And now
for the years.
They
know of our methods...
But still
can't reappear.
They
grumble and mumble...
As they
move away from it all...
"Your
fault!", "No!", "Your fault!".
They
start to blame all.
"They
were to lie down!"
"And
surrender thyself!"
"Who
said? Who thought?"
Some
shouted down the rout.
With
the words that they used....
To make
their careers,
Now were
cast down like stones...
Better,...
Much
like arrows, 'incoming', from previous years.
Kevin
Donnelly
5 August,
1999
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do they
really believe...?
They've
tainted our image...
And offered
no hope.
Infants
now ill...
We
get nothing- but smoke.
Where
is the help?
Where
is the caring?
Why
no concern?
Why
the meandering?
Why
are we told,
That
we're not even ill?
Yet
given a needle
To
take with some pills?
Make sure
you pay.
Money's
the cure!
Just
look at famous...
If
you want to be sure.
Liver
they say!
But,
blood is the key...
So,
get a biopsy...
The
better to see.
But
what of the tummy?
The
spleen, and such?
What
of the heart?
The
bones, and stuff?
Where
do we go...
When
all, it aches?
How
do you say...
listen!
Just wait....
I
had a sharp pain...
It
went from here...
Went
over there...
But
Now it's disappeared...
They
look at you weird.
Like
you've lost your mind.
But,
they were not taught...
So, we
look like mimes.
Unable
to express...
Just
what we need.
They
know more than us...
Yet,
where we 'can' see...
That,
those whom are trusted...
And
enabled by law...
To
render assistance...
Have
clearly, clearly, dropped the ball.
How
can we say...?
When,
though we 'can' speak...
Others
will 'not' listen.
Will
not encourage, won't seek.
Why
no help?
Why
the delay?
Do
they really believe...
We'll
ALL go away?
After
60 years,
Please
give us some help.
Why
has hepatitis...
Been
put on a shelf?
by
Kevin
Donnelly
Hepatitis
sufferer
12/5/99
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sincere"
Once More
I wanted
to just write a poem...
And write
it for some vets.
But the
more I got to thinking....
The more
I started to regret.
As we
watch today's Veteran Sales...
And other
secular events.
I wonder
whatever happened to...
Just
saying, "thank you",..
that
was sincere- and really meant?
Some
will claim they are a veteran...
And so
they are worthy of praise.
Others
will not say a word...
Yet,
both are the heroes that we have raised.
People
will gather...
And folks
will spend...
but not
for the Veteran...
And,
probably not, from within.
Where
are all the folks from the past...
That
would gather and hoist a toast?
They'd
almost want to stand in line...
To give
the veteran their most.
Today
it's a little different...
And I'm
not, really, sure just why.
For just
a few years ago...
The flags
were certainly up
And,
in fact, were waving quite high....
What
is it with our country...
That
demands so much from its vets.
From
the giving of their lives...
To their
living with regrets?
But at
times when the vet is down...
And others
are misspent...
Along
comes another day...
To remind
us what we meant.
Maybe
one day, soon to come...
Others
will finally respect, and not resent...
That
vets offered to give their lives...
And never
thought about "percents".
But now
the needy veteran will find them...
Only,
not where they need to be.
They'll
be found in the stores on merchandise...
And not
on VA letters... to be.
"Give
us 'percents' to equate our lives"....
Is what
most vets are left to plead for.
The dignity
is gone, the shame comes on...
The hopes
are dashed- and even bleed some.
When
they're forced to play the games...
For what
they were always promised,
It breaks
their heart, crushes their spirit...
They're
left to feel admonished.
But most
will only die...
Sooner
than should be...
They'd
only like some hope...
To show
their families.
So let's
hear it for the vets!
And let's
see it in the stores!
But let's
hope we see it, real genuine,...
And a
little "sincere"- once more!
by
Kevin
Donnelly
Captain,
USAR
11/11/98
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" We
"
A veteran
stood alone today,
Just
staring, at the Capitol steps.
Wondering,
how long it would take,
For the
leaders, to pay their respect.
For decades
heroes have been forgotten,
Except
when all felt the shame.
Of the
vets that died from yester-year,
The one's
who had no names.
Inside
the great Capitol,
This
veteran noted to himself,
Are politicians
who like to wave the flag,
But look
the other way, when asked to help.
They
know not what they do.
For they
are politicians, and do it for greed.
The veteran
does their part,
Because
of this country's needs.
The veteran,
alone, stood and starred,
Then
started to approach the marble steps.
"If it's
flag waving and honor they want,
Then
surely, surely, they want a vet!"
As the
Capitol neared,
And the
vet approached the first steps,
The flag
atop the building suddenly snapped, and waved
And greeted,
the lonely vet.
It waved
from high atop, the Nation's Capitol.
Far removed,
from the politician's embrace.
It saluted
Arlington Cemetery,
And all
the great, great, heroes, in that place.
The flag
will never be,
For those
that think, of only "Me".
The veteran
is a veteran,
Because,
they always think of "We"
by
Kevin
Donnelly
May 1998