Names On War Memorials Poem by Kevin Patrick

Billy got a gun,
When he turned 18
Did two tours in Iraq
And got a purple heart for free
When he arrived home
The Mayor gave him a key
And said 'how proud' he was
'For serving God and country'

But Billy was an egg
With a brain now slightly fried
Watching marching bands
And the Batons on the lines
Searching for the danger
In the Cadillac landmines
The sparkles made him dread
All the fireworks of July



When Billy arrived home
He nodded with cheap grins
Said 'How nice it's to be back'
Among his fellow country kin
His sweetheart gave him kisses
To show how much she missed him
But found him slightly cold
And emotionally distant




Billy stood outside
While everyone soirees
With cups of alcohol
To hip hop damaged muzak
They could not see the man
Returned from desert storms
But his mother sensed the lost
That her little boy was gone



Now Billie's in the garage
Looking pale and rather frail
Because the wars now in his head
And the faces have him jailed
From the orphans to the elders
As they whimpered on the stone
Too the occupier soldiers
Who taught freedom comes in blood


Now Billy has a gun
Logged neatly to his temple
He know you can't put Band-Aid
To a past that's never simple
He cries the waste of pain
Staring at a family picture
Knowing atonement come to rest
When the safeties off the trigger

Now Billie's just another
Name on a war memorial