THE CHANGE
As age creeps up and time goes by
I think about my youth.
It all was spent in Viet Nam
And there I learned the truth.
At twenty-one I went to war.
Came back at thirty-five.
I didn't see the change in me,
Just glad to be alive.
But family saw the change in me
In only just a year.
And I'd grown old beyond my time
Through missions that I flew and feared.
I guess my Mother said it best
From a Mother's point of view.
She said to me when I returned,
"The Army ruined you."
For years I disagreed with her.
Then she died one Winter's night,
And Mom, I have to tell you now
That what you said was right.