Causalities of War

During my time at Oneonta, I would venture down every now and then to Main Street. There was a music store on the corner that not only sold used cds but cds of unheard musicians, whose albums found a home in my collection. I would then take short walks, admiring the college town, and then wait for the bus to come and deliver me back to campus, and it was on one return trip, where I noticed a conversation between a strange man and the bus driver. Now, don't ask me what they were talking about because I don't remember, but I was intrigued by how they conversed with each other, the smiles and shake of the head, and how sad the driver looked when his friend arrived at his stop. My expression gave me away, and he explained to me that the man, who I was watching was a Vietnam Vet. And his situation was not good, but there was no one to help him. And I don't know why, but this inspired me to write the following:

Causalities of War

There is a war going on
inside of my head.
All those veterans are crying
for they fought for the dead.
We never see the darkness to war.
We can't know their stories.
Our selfishness goes so very far.
Humanity is pushed over the edge.
Lives are on the run.
I wasn't a soldier,
but we still never won.
Their silent pain
are like deep scars from my past.
Tears fall like rain,
and they become ghosts
along a broken street,
heroes never known,
always living in defeat.
Outcasts of life,
stranded from war,
this world was theirs
but now no more.