Vietnam Vet

To the 58,000 who did not return

If you haven't held

The brains of a friend

In the palm of your hand...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't seen

Your leg hanging on

By a thin thread of skin...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't smelled

Napalm singed flesh

Or white phosphorous burning within...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't killed

A grenade wielding child

Or yourself with different skin...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't tried

To explain your brain

To a spouse who won't understand...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't heard

"He was so different

Before he went over there!"

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't sat

Straight up in bed

At a startling sound in the night...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't touched

A name on The Wall

And remembered a face and a scream...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't been

So scared that you cried

And begged God to make it stop...

Then you may be sane.

If you haven't lived

For twenty five years

With all this inside...

Then you may be sane.

But you're not us!

by  Chuck Keller

©  2006