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Forty-Three Years and Counting (poem)

By Paul Hellweg

Invitations declined,
alone by choice
Christmas eve,
fiber optic tree twinkling
green yellow red blue,
indulging in Cabernet Sauvignon
and Double Black Scotch,
watching DVD,
the History Channel's
Vietnam in HD.
Disc Two: An Endless War,
1968-1969, my time,
year of escalation,
dead bodies twisted and strewn
like discarded wrapping paper,
blood spilled far and near,
my own a part of the sacrifice.
Read poem today
about how an injured animal
will isolate itself, finding quiet place
to lick its wounds
before rejoining the pack.
Poem didn't say
how long.

—Paul Hellweg

Acknowledgment: Inspired by Angie Thompson's poem, "Here We Stand Glorious, Emerged From The Den."