Tyler Southern Poem by Luke Easter

A 22 year old Marine donned with two stripes up,
Enemy IED explosion, devestitation was abrupt,
Running, laughing, horsing around, July 4,2010,
Dream, corporal Tyler Southern was whole again.

With his older brothers back in sunny Jacksonville,
From playing together as kids then trained to kill,
Football, passing, catching, running & touchdown,
Explosive so powerful his legs were never found.

1 limb remaining, broken, mangled, beyond repair,
Okay, refresh his memory as to why we are there,
Now, Walter Reed Medical Center, reality sets in,
The new life if that’s what it’s called bout to begin.

Mother Patti like the, “Statue Of Liberty” at his side,
The Potomac River of tears no doubt both have cried,
Mom would hold and rock him securely in her arms,
Too late, damage has been done, irreparable harm.

He begins to hyperventilate & gulps lungs full of air,
Same woman who birthed 22 years before is there,
Breathe with me, she murmured, breathe with me,
Suddenly he vomited now he lays back peaceably.

1 of a growing number of soldiers,16,000 or more,
Catastrophically wounded this is the blood & gore,
The sum total of high grade weaponry used in war,
The likes of modern technology never seen before.

Senior officials enjoy gorme lunch at the Pentagon,
Billion dollar budget compared to pennies for mom,
Families who bleed compassion for wounded souls,
High price suits & cigars get richer as the war grows.

While wounds are becoming more severe & complex,
Powers that be are searching engagements to be next,
DOD calculates this, “Military Injury Seventy Score, ”
'Dismounted Complex Blast Injury' there'll be more.