Veterans
on Veterans Day
Those many,
sung and unsung,
who gave themselves,
often gave up their lives,
to fight, in wars,
for a country,
a belief,
an ideal.
Those many others,
maybe you,
scarred,
shell~shocked,
or deeply fatigued
by some life battle,
some warlike
struggle.
Others, if not
long-suffering,
long-serving
on life’s front lines.
Weathered and wakeful
by seasons of living.
Wiser since to the ways
of the world,
its hard and soft,
its bitter, and sweet,
its silent,
and spoken.
Veterans all.
Colin Goedecke
Westerly-by-the-Sea, Rhode Island
November 11, 2023
