Steve Brandenburg

GROWING OLD

A young boy plinking tin cans
with a twenty two rifle in his hands
Having fun
trying to beat his last score

A young man with an M-16 in his hands
wishing he didn’t have to think of the score
Men are dying all around
he hates the sound
Many lives are bound

A young old man has come home
wondering what went wrong
They didn’t play his country’s song
when they set foot on home soil

Was his tour just for turmoil?
No welcome home
no pat on the back
Compassion this country did lack

So on with life he did plod on
but those memories are never gone
They will haunt him till his life is still
in a void we all will fill