Death of a Warrior
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:20 am
In the last three months, I have attended two funerals, both Navy vets. The first, a childhood friend that I went to school with. He served three tours as a gunner on a PBR in Viet Nam. He was highly decorated. He lost a long battle with agent orange. The other was Chief Scott, whom I served on the Madison with in the late 60s. I started the poem after the first funeral but laid it aside because I had issues with anger about the way the Nam vets were treated by the VA. I have a cousin who suffers from exposure as well. Anyway, I really could not focus on writing. Then after Chief Scott's funeral, I could not rest until I finished it. I struggled a little about using Chief Scott's name here, but I realize that many have not got the word, so here it is for those of you who knew him:
Death of a Warrior
The good Earth opens welcoming arms
And Heaven sheds tears on that day;
The day life’s final verse is written
And a Warrior for peace passes away.
Their stories are told in songs of old,
And in verses from poets’ admiring hands.
They are written in the jungles of Viet Nam,
In sand and on beaches of distant lands.
But today, every song of praise is hushed
And Sadness stands at my side;
Another Warrior has fought his final battle,
And another part of this poet died.
© 2016 Roy Mack Bowen
Death of a Warrior
The good Earth opens welcoming arms
And Heaven sheds tears on that day;
The day life’s final verse is written
And a Warrior for peace passes away.
Their stories are told in songs of old,
And in verses from poets’ admiring hands.
They are written in the jungles of Viet Nam,
In sand and on beaches of distant lands.
But today, every song of praise is hushed
And Sadness stands at my side;
Another Warrior has fought his final battle,
And another part of this poet died.
© 2016 Roy Mack Bowen