the war they say is many centuries away,
  different continental breakfast, different time warp zone
there is an ocean and a sea between...well,  understanding and action

then they don't understand war,
they don't know what it is to fight a cause, except for personal gain
they hired people to do just that, the fighting part
                              as a matter of fact,
                             they cut them lose
                             with out a thought
that when the soldier came back, they brought
more back
with them than they could handle,
faces of strangers, places of danger, all you are glad is you day is done and a rucksack under your head, lives of friends and pieces left behind,

then why does it take a battle while some one on some Hill
                                      rattles
a sabre, cutting what is approriate care for someone whose
mind is still there, war changes you, if it doesn't and you don't
adapt to fight a war...YOU DIE.

sadly though no one has learned
                               that it is burned, into your brain,
                              into the heart that earned
respect of peers and villagers,
                            well diggers, and such,
cattle drovers, but no one,
but no one knows, how to reset, refresh, return to the naive
state of mind where the past is blinded to your present life,
where the army sees you as broken out of policy, how words
on paper know people right to their guts, beats the crap out of me.

It is more than hugs and teddy bears
they need to know you sent them there
and you were not over on sandy ridges,
or I E D bridges, and culverts, patrolling
but hang onto them
to show you care, and will always be there when
they argue with a loved one, startle when others
make a loud noise, cry when every one else is laughing,
or just need a moment to collect their scattered thoughts.

I have never served, in a war zone,
I left the army many, many years ago,
I know now, I would have been changed, if it me returning as damaged goods
                 some may have thought my actions deranged
but all I would be trying to do is get the fresh air in to my lungs
and stop the tears as they stung my eyes, but there is no one to hold my hand.