Where Have They Gone, poem 2

These two poems are a new re-write of a poem I posted earlier. They are about my recollections of the impact of the war in Vietnam and it's impact on a small town.

Where have they gone
The young and proud?

Where is Gus?
He who could run like the wind
Down the field to victory on homecoming night

Where is Eddie with the cannon right arm?
He who threw the winning touchdown pass to Gus?

Where is Lawrence?
He who made his grandmother so proud
Her slave life stories were so vivid in his mind
The first one in the family to finish school

Where are Gunvald and Bengt?
The town’s only immigrant sons,
Those two new Sons of the Town who worked so much harder,
Just to fit in,

Where is Tom?
He who always drove too fast
Son of the local sheriff,
Racing in the streets on Saturday nights?

Will their parents mourn their loss?
Will we notice their absence?

Greg, he whose Diner has already closed down,
Crippled after his hip surgery failed, and now
Gus is not there to take his place
Irene, his wife, she who couldn’t deal with the loss
The towns first civilian casualty
Of a war so far away

The 5 and Dime store won’t last long either,
Mr. Nichols, he who is getting older by the day,
Never stands outside the shop door anymore, greeting everyone,
His health is failing and Eddie isn’t coming back to take over
It’s a matter of time now they say.

Pete he who can’t climb the trees anymore to trim them,
Says he’ll have to sell his orchards and land to pay his mortgage
Gunvald and Bengt will be trimming trees only in Pete’s memories

Where have you gone, my heroes my heroes,
Why have you left our lives,
Where have you gone, my heroes my heroes,
And what will become of us?

Reviews

[An owl on the moon]

Such a powerful, introspective glimpse at lives awakened and lives lost. Each time a name is invoked, it seems to cut just a little deeper. These are people who walked beside us, and now they have faded into the mist of yesterday, no longer laughing, loving, living among us. Gripping write.

[daninstockholm]

Wow,I am truly honored. What a wonderful review! You really did get the entirety of the piece. I truly appreciate your thoughtful review! Thank you so very much!

[...]

All great poets are inside of you. Poem with nice words and humble . You create beautiful piece and we all enjoyed for all great poets

[daninstockholm]

You are so very kind, Marketa. Thank you again for your lovely words.

[Calamityofgin]

A really nice piece, giving lives to men in uniform, a place in a small town, and even the towns existence hangs precarious in the winds of war...
Great piece kitten

[daninstockholm]

Thank you so much. It was about the effect of war on small towns, including the one I spent 9 years of my youth in. I appreciate your kind words! Thank you for reading!

[Calamityofgin]

Are you Swedish?

[daninstockholm]

I'm American, but i live in Stockholm.

[Aventicus]

Thine heroes have gone to face death's cold terror
They hath defeated it for their successors
So that they might come and fix all error
Left by the the tragedy of ancestors

[KWP]

such a waste of beautiful lives and still we choose to take up arms and aim them at each other ... I mean if you think about it ... imagine in the future if your government and my government came to such a bad disagreement that both countries took up arms against each other ???

people say we need wars, I say we just need to level up with a shift in consciousness - but dead or alive, the universe will always flow on X

[daninstockholm]

Thank you, Kay. I appreciate your thoughts,

[TM]

This would make a good book concept :) great poem

[daninstockholm]

Thank you very much!!