Forgotten

I see the dirty, ragged man

Standing on the corner

Reaching out his hand

Asking for a dollar,

He is a veteran of war

Ravaged and torn

From the memories

Which leave him forlorn,

This man once served

His country proud

Today,

Is lost in a cloud

Of scorn,

By his countrymen

They have all

Forgotten him,

And show nothing

Save disgust,

For the ragged, dirty

Soul

Standing in the dusk,

They’ll not even

Pray for him

When death

Takes him to dust.

by  Larry Gordon

1999