Joe Tarnovsky

OLD GLORY AND THE HYPOCRITES ON CAPITOL HILL

That Flag is so pretty to look at when she waves in the breeze
Then again when I see her I tend often times to get so sad
I think of all the men and women that gave their lives for that Flag
I then think of those that disrespect and desecrate her and I get so mad

No matter what anyone does to our beloved Old Glory, our Flag
Never would I want to protect her with Congressional legislation
For you see some of those hypocrites up on Capitol Hill that now rally around the Flag
It was just a 30 plus years ago that they burned her and led demonstrations

Yes, they burned our Red, White and Blue that young Americans were dying for in Vietnam
When our Star Spangled Banner called us to war, they chose to run and hide
They showed anger, hatred, indifference and disrespect to those that made it home
They made fun of and laughed at the Americans in Vietnam who died

No, no, Mr. or Ms. Politician on Capitol Hill,
How dare you tell me or my brothers and sisters
That we should never spit, step on or burn our beloved Old Glory?
Those of us that went and did our duty for the Flag of our country in South Vietnam
With our Flag, that we would never do, we have a beautiful but sad and tearful love story

So you hypocrites in Washington, DC that wrap yourselves in our Red, White and Blue
If you were of age to have gone but chose not to fight in the Vietnam War
I have so many expletives I would love to say to you face-to-face and in this poem
But out of respect for my fellow members of the International War Veteran’ Poetry Archives,
I choose to say no more

Author’s Note: Inspired to write this poem today because of the love and friendship I have with Linda Luther and Eileen Breedlove