Riding The Wind Jubilee

an old man sat in a Quaker chair facing

another old man in a Wicker,

between them was a checker board

with faded black and red squares

both wore khakis, t-shirts, and dingy Army boots

laced half way up with no socks;

their shoulder length hair was long, oily, and stringy

no eye glasses did they wear,

neither had shaved for several days,

one was missing an arm, the other a leg

one was a little over weight, the other a little under thin

both wore faded orange baseball caps with frayed brims

neither smoked..  a half empty bottle of whiskey lay on the table,

a blue tick hound laid on the wooden porch was dreaming

his legs and eyes quivering...

a yellow cat lay up against his back observing the game

trees hid the sun but not the light

a wood pecker's rhythms were easily detected

the head of a snake slid effortlessly across a stilled pond

a rutted dirt road curved out-of-sight behind bushes

the sweet smell of burning hemp filtered through the air

one soldier fell from his chair onto the wood

the blue tick hound barking fiercely as it jumped

the other soldier leaned back in his chair laughing so hard

the legs of the chair lost their footing

the man fell to the ground hitting his head on a rock,

the yellow cat scurried after a bird

the hound disappeared down the dirt road

no harm was done...  no foul...  or so it appeared;

brothers to the end they were and even though they were close

no one came to their funerals...  serving their country faithfully,

the conflict of the Vietnam kind it was called...

both had suffered from Agent Orange

both were receiving disability

both had voted in every election

but their country no longer cared to much for them,

or so it seemed to them they often said

as I leaned against cabin wall listening to their stories,

it was not their stories I remember

it was the way they were treated

by their neighbors, family, and friends

and as a reporter, I am reporting

we don't give justice to our veterans...

and when the liberals came to my door asking for money

I told them to keep on walking

and let some other fool hear their talking

as I will spend no time with you or waste my money,

my brothers are dead due to your carelessness

and no longer will they breathe this air

or see the power you have given to politicians

and not one dime do you use to protect our freedom;

a distant song is now what I sing and...

from myself I try to hide and not because I never learned checkers

but because...  just because...

you hide from the truth to cover your asses.

6 November 2020