On Memorial Day we stop and remember. At least most of us.

Everywhere I go I bump into them. 

They almost all look alike.

Members of the same club.

Old. 

Faces weatherbeaten lined. 

Tired. 

In the grocery store pushing a cart.  

Sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette.  

Here and there at a ball game. 

Shuffling in to see some doctor. 

They’ve lost a lot. 

They don’t say much. 

Usually they ignore the questions we ask about the war. 

Yes, they’ve lost a lot. 

Buddies over there. 

Limbs and sometimes minds. 

Health. 

All the years that could have been.

Sometimes wives and children. 

Not like it used to be. 

They ache. 

They don’t cry much. 

But they feel—oh, how they feel. 

So now let us raise a salute.

Let us praise all the unknown guys 

with the crumpled hats. 

That say veteran.

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com