Hero

When I used to visit, we’d play by the pool

With blue gleaming drops – crystalline cool –

Embracing our foots as we splashed and we laughed:

Teen against child (lucky and daft)

When I used to visit, we’d walk in the mall

Your arms stretched across its brightly lit halls,

Fountains, you’d note, and libraries too

I’d watched enraptured, cheeks dabbed with hue –

Once when I visit, aunt pulled me aside:

“Your cousin is busy, hear now and abide –

Five days a week, maybe holidays too

He’ll serve in the army: there’s no time for you.”

Sweat gushing as you limped to a side;

Blank pupils as you’d press back – you’d hide –

The thoughts contorting within that dark mind

When you’d search for an answer unable to find

Its way to the surface. And

Each day you’d think of home from your base -

Of your sweet girlfriend and life in those days

Untainted by sorrow, free from this haze

Of blinding thought-

You won’t get a medal, you “aren’t that good”

Two years of slopping around in the mud

For the sake of the country, for the sake of us all

Yet who will notice when you stumble and fall?

You aren’t noble, ‘cause you were forced

To join the army, to cry yourself hoarse.

You didn’t sacrifice, ‘cause who will care

for the hidden bruises and burdens you bear?

Now when I visit, I silently stare

At the hero braiding his young sister’s hair

And the others around me: my friends and my peers

Bracing themselves to face all their fears

For the sake of the country, or perhaps the law

Who cares? They’re still heroes, after all.

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any reviews :)