Barry J. Phillips

A VETERAN? ME!?

I’m a veteran now.
Or so they say.
It came as quite a shock.
Vets are old
And bowed with age.
They’re heroes to us all.
So qualified I’m surely not.

Vets stepped up and went to war
When the world seemed lost in chaos.
Some lost limbs
Or suffer dreams
Of horrors we don’t know.
Still, they somehow stand quite tall
And are viewed by all in awe

Some have medals
Row on row
While others, very few.
Many must remain in chairs
Many more confined to beds
Their eyes will glisten
For friends long lost
And their stories are seldom told.

Of UN tours, I’ve had my share
I’ve worn the uniform.
I’ve leapt from planes.
Lost some friends…
And bent or broken bones.
But never once did I ever think
A veteran I would be.

But now it seems I qualify.
And to prove it, I’ve been given
A licence plate
For all to see.
It proclaims that I have served.
So now I’m a veteran.
And I must say
I’m pleased.

But still and all
It seems to me
It doesn’t quite equate.
Those men were giants
Those men of old,
The ones I knew as vets.
And so I find it very strange
To think myself a vet.