Linda M. Graham (nee Luther)

MISSING IN ACTION

My Dad is a Vet ‘Missing In Action?’ Poetry Award
Dear Linda: I am honored to award you the “My Dad is a Vet ‘Missing In Action?’ Poetry Award” for your excellent poem, “Missing In Action”: Ruby Alexander Beloz ~ May 4, 2002Missing in Action
is what they must think.
I’ve been here for years
in the filth and the stink.

The days go by slowly
and I’ve lost track of time.
Does my family remember?
Is my sweetheart still mine?

A long faded photo
is all that I hold.
I can still see her face
and I’m feeling so old.

Do they think I was killed
or wait for my return home?
Are my birthdays remembered
or is it written on stone?

Please God let them know
that I breathe and I live.
For one last look at them all
my very life I would give.

Oh, never mind God…
I must look a fright.
I’ve forgotten my manners
and I can’t read or write.

The tortures were many
and my hands have grown numb.
I’ve lived in this darkness
with no view of the sun.

I’m not Missing in Action
but it’s what they must think.
I’ve been here for years
in the filth and the stink.

©Copyright May 4, 2002 by Linda M. Graham (nee Luther)

Submitted for the May 2002 IWVPA Club Theme Project, “Missing In Action”