WHAT LIVES ON

Oh the joy when he was born
great hope for him and so much more
they brought him home then school began
a graduate with summer plans

Special friends and selfie pics
family meals and relatives
parents always there for him
and dreams that never ever dimmed

College bound or working plans
some were buying wedding bands
a proud Marine for this young man
serving in Afghanistan

People there lived in despair
through warring years invaders shared
with ISIS-K its brutal hands
more violent than Taliban

Marines in final exit days
led pawns in hell to freedom planes
but plotting psychopaths would find
a fiery way for their demise

And then the news caught by surprise
a bombing blast by suicide
a mother’s joy a father’s pride
their son and twelve more
lost their lives

For twenty years this distant land
was breeding ground for battlements
a back and force of blame and loss
with soldiers blood the tragic cost

At home deep wounds and smoldering doubt
leaves war again to reason out
so is this conflict really done
or troubling storm in what lives on

A poem by Greg Nelson
© 2021 by Poppie’s Hallel BMI (Admin. by Amplified Administration)