“Over There”
I attended the funeral of a young man tonight who passed away much too young. His mother spoke of how he was never the same after he returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
I felt compelled to say a few words for a fellow soldier, a veteran combat medic, but the words I couldn’t speak manifested themselves in this poem.
Uncle Sam took me and shaved off my hair
When I was just a boy, long before Over There
Good friends, the best, not even aware
How everything would change once we got Over There
Massive scorpions, giant spiders, sand everywhere!
Just a few of the things we saw Over There
Red Bulls and Monsters, hell, we didn’t care
Nobody slept for months … Over There
Some things we don’t mention, we can‘t even share.
Other Monsters and demons we met Over There
Some of us came home, how is that even fair?!
Some gave it all, some didn’t come home from Over There
Too much to handle, too much to bear!
Some shit is just better left Over There
Can’t sleep. Can’t eat. Can’t suck enough air!
Barely existing since returning from Over There
Back in the day, they called it the “thousand-yard stare”
The echo of memories we made Over There
Rest easy, remember the words of this prayer.
We left our souls in the sand … OVER THERE.
