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L
Lonnie
Apr 07, 2010 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

The Homeless Vet

                    The Homeless Vet



                He's out there now, I guarantee,
                hungry, cold, and broken
                a faceless ambiguity
                of promises once spoken

                The best of what we had to give
                torn apart by War
                now is struggling to live
                on pickings of the poor

                Misunderstood and cast aside
                by family and friends
                plagued by thoughts of suicide
                and guilt that never ends

                Whirled about by winds of change
                a soldier dares not see
                killing souls to rearrange
                a soul-less destiny

                Coming home to nothing more
                than penitence and pain
                knowing what has gone before
                is bound to come again

                Forever young yet aging fast
                the years have not been kind
                living mostly in a past
                that eats away his mind

                They say old soldiers never die
                just simply fade away
                but that is yet another lie
                for yet another day


                C.  Lon  R.  Bruso
               

               
               
— Lonnie, Apr 07, 2010

About This Poem

About the Author

Region, Country: New England, originally, now, Macon, N.C., USA

Favorite Poets: Poe, Frost, Bob Dylan

More from this author

Critiques

M

magics02

16 years 2 months ago

Wow Lonnie

This is a very profound write Lonnie. I visit with alot of homeless vets around the courthouse everyday. I see them sleeping by the lake, and standing at the street corners, sleeping on hard concrete sidewalks. I think it is a disgrace that these homeless men and women after serving their country have to live this way now. I know how you felt when you wrote this and I share the same feelings as you. Kudos to a great write Lonnie and Congrats to you and Poe. I haven't gone much in chat lately so I don't get too chat with you much. Great write! Love, Mona Learn to live, learn to forgive. Life is too short.
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thanks Mona!

I'm glad you came by to read this and even more glad that you enjoyed it!
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you Ellie!

I wrote this in remembrance for a time when I, myself, was the homeless vet, and I guess it took all these many years to finally confront the issue!
P

poewriter58

16 years 2 months ago

Lon

What can I say ,other than I have seen this first hand and my heart aches and cries out to these people that sacrificed theirs lives. That only goes to show the humans are meaningless and expendable as far as the government is concerned ,all they see is another social security number. Pitiful state it is Love your wife
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you, Dearest!

You know full well how much this issue concerns me, and you also share my compassion for those who have suffered through this ongoing nightmare! Thank you so much for your love and understanding!
weirdelf

weirdelf

16 years 2 months ago

The pain goes on

As usual, superbly crafted Lonnie, and strong. I thought at first maybe a bit dated, surely returning vets get more support now. But you guys are still around, and still sufferring. Lest we forget. Cheers, Jess, Reprehensibly irrepressible
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Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thanks, Jess!

Actually, this is still a problem here, since our illustrious President believes that returning Vets should pay for their own health care! But, as you say, we're still around, and still suffering!
ID

Ink Dragon

16 years 2 months ago

Dear Lonnie,

you have managed to pull of a rhyming poem with a sad theme. I admire your style, and the theme... well, my grandpa was a soldier in WWII, and he bore the scars all his life, both on the outside and on the inside... I wish that my son will never be a soldier, and that no one's son will have to fight in any war ever again... but there are the sons of other mothers out there, living through horrors I cannot imagine. When - if - they come back home, they need help and compassion. Yours, ~Nina
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you, Nina!

Your comments are always greatly appreciated, and I'm glad this poem touched a chord in you!
xena465

xena465

16 years 2 months ago

Wow Lonnie! You excelled

Wow Lonnie! You excelled yourself with this super poem. Rosina xena465
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Many thanks, Rosina!

This type of poem is hard to write, yet in many ways harder not to! Glad you enjoyed it!
Candlewitch

Candlewitch

16 years 2 months ago

Dear Lonnie

Exactly! My favorite verse: They say old soldiers never die just simply fade away but that is yet another lie for yet another day Always, Cat
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thanks, Cat!

It's always a pleasure when you drop by and leave a comment! Glad you enjoyed this piece!
judyanne

judyanne

16 years 2 months ago

such a powerful write lonnie

'Whirled about by winds of change a soldier dares not see killing souls to rearrange a soul-less destiny' i'm hitting the button on the way out. love judy
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Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you, judy!

I'm very pleased that you stopped in to read this poem and leave such a nice comment! The message in this one hits home for me as I have been there!
Seren

Seren

16 years 2 months ago

Dear Lonnie

I cannot tell you how this write made me feel ... a little rage and a little sorrow ... but its all been said much better than I could ... brilliant write applause love Jayne-Chloe P.S got so wound in the poem forgot congratulations on spotlight :)
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you, Jayne!

Didn't know I made Spotlight! Oh well, guess I should check in more often! Glad you liked this poem!
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you, Sir!

When I can attain your prowess as a poet I shall deserve that praise indeed! Glad you liked this piece!
Roscoe Lane

Roscoe Lane

16 years 2 months ago

I have,

two sons both in the army, by choice i might add. The change in them is amazing. They seem to have a life well planned, but being soldiers this could change. We were speaking about this not long ago, and it is a very real problem of today and yesterday. You have brought it to life with your writing. Great work. Regards Roscoe...
L

Lonnie

16 years 2 months ago

Thank you, Roscoe!

I served from 1964 until 1971 and was in Vietnam in '68-'69! Coming home was not as it should have been and for several years following my return I had some really bad experiences, hence, this poem! Glad you enjoyed it, and tell your boys to hang in there!
Janice Pearce

Janice Pearce

16 years 2 months ago

The Homeless Vet

Lonnie, You have managed to describe reality in such a way that pulls at the heartstrings of everyone. (unless they are heartless)Excellent, my friend! _____________________________________________ Income-tax forms should be more realistic by allowing the taxpayer to list "Uncle Sam" as a dependent Anonymous
Kailashana

Kailashana

16 years 1 month ago

Lonnie, I accidentally

Lonnie, I accidentally logged in under Barry; what I wanted to say was that most Nam vets do not speak of their time "served" even as nightmares continue. In Cleveland area, there are many *band of brothers*, you can always recognize them with their long grey hair, beards and Jeans, vests adorned with buttons, etc. It's a sad thing to note that even in this day and age, parents of vets have to fight for medical & mental health benefits. I watched congressional hearings a couple of years ago. So many *boys* came home suicidal or homicidal with little attention to their dilemma. Perhaps it's changed somewhat since then. I'm also reminded of one of the men in my Middle East Peace Forum who survived 6 months of Pinochet's torture prison. No finer, gentler man have I known. He recently retired, returned to Chile and works as an advocate for abused women. I'll never quite understand how one can be 'normal' after such a thing as war. Both soldier and civilians. ~A "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." ~ A Course In Miracles
R

raj

16 years 1 month ago

humane reflections

Mr.Lonnie...i find the subject and the content of your poem very emotive, reflective and empathetic...a dedication to the soldiers who die or become living dead dealing with "what is right and what is wrong"...