I own a
black t-shirt
that proclaims
(on the back):

Disturbed Veteran
Do Not Approach

When I wear it,
mothers clutch
their children and
I am rarely jostled
in check out lines.
You'd think
I was a *****
asking to shake hands.
Mostly, they pretend
blindness and just
walk away as they
did long ago
when the war ended
*for them.

She received a letter
Dreaded in these modern times
What belonged in her arms
Was armed on the front lines
Thoughts buried softly in shells of gunfire
Paper clenched in her hand, barely left there
Breathing

She stands in her dismay
“He will return to me someday.”
Her mind pacing through her memories
As her days aged longer still
She clings to reasons no one will
Until he set foot back in his home
She would rest here alone.

She received a phone call
Picked up with a hopeless taste
Hospital front desk states
Her lover won’t be home today.
Forever waiting by dimming porch light
She stares awake in her chair, left alone there
Breathing

And the years fade on
“He just can’t be gone.”
Pictures fading with all her memories
As the door creeps open slow
The only footsteps she could know
Return safely home to her arms
No longer could she be alone.

© 2008

He goes in to battle an innocent boy
but
returns a battle hardened soldier
Nothing will ever be the same for him
- Explosions paint his eyelids
- His ears still ring from bombs
- He wakes up pulling a non-existent trigger
- He's seen the deepest parts of hell
- He's watched men die at his feet, pleading for mercy
and people still wonder 'what ever happened to that little boy?'
That little boy...
He stared death in the face and lived to tell the tale.
He fought for a country that could care less.
He watched his men die at the hands of the enemy.
He left himself over there in the dirt with the men that died.
He faced people who hated everything he stood for.

But he fought for you.

Never ask what happened to that little boy.
You wont like the answer.

Compassion the last one that enters the room
A key trait that isn't groomed
A true character the teachers don't teach
A pure thing that leaches won't leach
Compassion the leader to happiness
The follower of sorrow
Compassion something you can't barrow - d.j. Turner

We continuously make a fool of ourselves, unconsciously for the enjoyment of others, not lacking the self esteem self belief on the contrary we're encouraging individuals who slide through the ******* getting nicks an nacks ticks an tacks on our hearts an our backs slaps an pats patronized for our looks an our hooks the way dance or we cook we guide you through life like an open book but then treated like an unknown crook, but look I'm not shook  I won't be that crook I slide through ******* getting nicks an nacks ticks and tacks on my heart an my back because I don't lack and I won't look back I'm way stronger then that.
D.J.Turner

What if what is what if
They say What if, but is it this, is acknowledging the unknown what's bliss
If I skipped a few Christmas's would my life end like this
What if they knew you'd be the best thing in they life, would that change what they missed, fumbling at they lips, as if they gave two *****
What if our focus was on what's next
So many stress over they ex clearly saving they text never pondering what next what next
What if people didn't have to get wake up calls to drastically alter they rights, what if we ALL stood together for what's Right!
D.J. Turner

It’s ******* Veterans Day
He said as my teeth turned into shrapnel on the street
He had the right to remain violent
I had the right to remain silent

Men have died for your right to speak
How dare you question the military?
Dissent squashed with brute force
Drone strikes on a straight course

Bang Bang! Like the pixels on a Playstation
His hands return ****** to the deployment station
PTSD on the brain
IUD as cremation

It’s ******* Veterans Day
Pay your respects
I’ll collect your debts
And turn them into fighter jets

You say you support the troops
Or do you really support Fox News
Or MSNBC
What ever you choose
It’s information that you lose

There’s no glory in ******
No matter what flag you use
Who’s this foreign invader your protecting us from?
The way I see it, is you’re the invader, son

Let’s hold a concert
Where the **** is Bruce Springsteen?
Let’s have a parade
Do people on the streets remind you of anything?

Oh yeah, that thing called protest.
How we talk about the things we detest.
Unless it’s about the troops.
Tie yellow ribbons instead.
Aren’t you glad Osama’s dead?

I just wanted to tell you
I just wanted to say
That I miss you like hell
and happy veteran's day
I hope you sleep well
And that you're in a good place
I just wanted to tell you
but you're so far away