VETERAN:

:

Face etched by a life of lost, long-gone time,

Painted in resignation & gritty city-street-grime,

Long old army coat drags through sidewalk droppings,

Ignored by walkers, workers & ladies doing their shopping,

Murky-pond eyes & long grey straggling beard,

Make him the devil to be ignored, shunned & feared.

By cruel city louts, forever being taunted & teased,

By society, daily, being cussed at, ousted & squeezed,

“Be off with you man, get out, shove off and move on,

You drunk, you idiot, nothing but a stupid moron”,

He´s heard it all & many times, this old veteran of war,

Hobo, vagabond, good-for-nothing, tramp & much more.

He once wore his country´s uniform with such glowing pride,

Protecting his country, defending his people & all on our side,

His medal for bravery, now gone in hunger, he sold for a crust,

His old army boots, leaking in cold & now turning to dust,

Now lost and alone in the land he defended, his city´s grey rain,

In his lonely sad eyes, all that is left are his tears of pain.

His only possessions, a broken chain with his dead wife´s locket,

Which he keeps secretly with love, in the deep soul of his pocket,

And a dog-eared Bible by his heart, in the depths of his threadbare coat,

Which reminds him that no matter what; God is near & never remote,

Our unsung, forgotten hero, the hermit, will just keep on plodding,

And with tear-stained smile, away from us he walks, sadly nodding.