Iraq & Afghanistan Poem by Luke Easter

We get up in the morning and because we stayed up late,
The snooze button is hit for ten more minutes to take,
They get up in the wee hours not sure of their fate,
Although cool throughout the night now the sun will bake.

We take our kids to a baby sitter, could be straight to school,
Maybe the bus stop or whomever’s turn it is to carpool,
They get dressed hurriedly, a uniform and combat boots,
Instead of skirts, dresses, heels, the latest 5th Avenue Suit.

For us another day of hustle and all that we consider crap,
Stopped for a speeding ticket, coffee or juice spilled in our lap,
They only wish for the opportunity to be stopped by a traffic cop,
Hey, what’s that over there? Returning fire, pop, pop and pop.

It’s baseball season now, I wonder who’s going to get the save,
A stadium filled to capacity and home fans do the wave,
Another roadside bomb explodes, oh no, I can’t feel my legs,
Maybe I would have been better off instead by going to my grave.

Please say to me this is not going to be just another Viet Nam,
Tell me again why we are in Iraq and a country called Afghanistan?
I’ll search him this time, wait a minute, what’s this, another one, oh man,
I didn’t move away fast enough; hopefully the docs can reattach my hand.

Maybe we didn’t work today, realizing we still have some of our sick days,
Yeah, call off, relax, take it easy and the best part is we still get paid.
We sit home at the dinner table; will you pass the ketchup please?
Didn’t we have this stuff last night? You mean there’s still more of these?

I’ll cut the grass, go to the store, lounge around or just go back to bed,
Before that, where’s the dog or cat food? For sure the pet has to be fed,
I’ll surprise the family tonight, it’s the doorbell, must be the pizza man,
Ever wonder how pepperoni & cheese would taste with a little desert sand?

Yes, we sure do have it rough don’t we? Where in the heck is that cable remote?
The weather channel say’s low 60’s for Friday; kids don’t forget your coats,
Tomorrow is another day, same old stuff, for the most part again to be well fed,
How would you feel if the under carriage of a truck was a canopy for your bed?

October 10,2009, the report is from enemy assaults on an Afghanistan U.S. outpost,
Early morning firefight 07/13/2008, Sgt. Erich Phillips' carbine quit in an area remote,
9 U.S. soldiers lay dead 27 wounded in chaos as weapons repeatedly failed in battle,
Back up was as close as well, it was so far away it might as well have been Seattle.

First, the second and third class crap with armored vehicles and their bulletproof vest,
Time & time again they failed in combat now we can add the M4, not passing the test,
Are our men and women in a war or it this an occasion to try out a poker faced bluff?
Whatever, as U.S. lives are at stake isn’t about time the public says enough is enough?

Let this country unite in support of our American troops and come together in prayer,
Not just for Iraq & Afghanistan but whenever in harm’s way fighting battles anywhere,
And just because many in authority or decision making surprisingly seem not to care,
Every military outfit needs to know whatever they are doing in spirit we too are there.