8 Years

19-year-old high-school dropout with a pregnant girlfriend
End of his rope
Oil fields and construction crews offer grey futures
Back to school

Goin' through the motions
Dottin' t's and crossin' i's
Sleepwalkin' circles 'round his peers
Graduate in January, alone
Become a soldier

20-year-old soldier with a pregnant wife
Findin' hope
Offerin' his life for an ideal
Believin' in something more
somethin good
somethin greater

Back to school
Learnin' the trade
Learnin' his limits
Raisin' a son
Learnin' love
Learnin' something worth more
Losin' himself in his work

Forgettin' his family

22-year-old soldier livin' alone
Out of hope
Workin' for nothing becomin' apparent
Son in the states with his other parent
Sacrificed to an ideal
Believin' it's worth something more
somethin good
somethin greater
That won't even notice they're gone

Somethin' hollow
Somethin' rotten
Somethin' that offers no solace

Discovers the bar
Plays like a rock star
Learnin' life
Learnin' people
Findin' distraction in late nights, liquor, and loose women
And music
And life
And dance
Rides out his service in a stupor

24-year-old veteran, makin' a killin'
Livin' on dope
World on a string
Ridin' high on the coattails of a boomin' economy

Thousand dollar bar tabs
Group sex in taxi cabs
Hot sluts snortin' coke off of penises
Shackin' up with the lay of his life
Hubris thrashin' the horse that brought him there
Overextended, under-rested, overly optimistic, and
under-planned

Love built on sex falls apart
Like the boomin' economy

25-year-old slave, killin' himself
Overworked and underpaid
Dyin' on dope
Livin' in a war-zone
Shattered glass and holes-in-walls
Screams ringin' in ears
The bottle drained, dehydrated soul
Big dreams beached like whales on reality

No tide of hope to set them afloat

Watchin' his back
Trustin' nothin'
Paranoia or common sense?
Who can say?

Kicks that bitch to the curb
Puts down the straw
And picks up a pen

26-year-old writer, findin' himself
Reachin' within
Findin' something
Somethin good,
Somethin greater.

Buffs and polishes dross into platinum
Tries to master self
Finds new love and whispers
"Is it her?"

Confines his dreams to the page

27-year-old writer, drinking $4 coffee
Tastin' success

Scarred by 8 years
But each mark marks a lesson
Each ache reminds him of some wisdom
And he wouldn't trade a single one for anything

Picks up a newspaper

20-year-old soldier, loses leg and walks sister down the aisle
50 thousand in exchange for a new one
Still alive, but he'll never learn to dance
Never run through the prairie grass with Jenny again

4 more die in 2 attacks
Sacrificed to an ideal
Believin' it was worth something more
Somethin' good
Somethin' greater
That won't even notice they're gone

Somethin' hollow
Somethin' rotten
Somethin' that offers no solace

That can never give them back their 8 years.

Sunday, October 19, 2003