Civilian Casualties
By Reid Baer

I got a low number in the
last year of the Vietnam draft
so I went to that damned war and
when I returned to the home front
I had tremendous difficulty*
adjusting to phantom headaches
and attitudes no one could relate*
to explaining to anyone
who would listen - I was a damned
veteran – let alone a wounded*
one - neither loved nor hated by
my president feigning an attempt
to be fair but failing in half
assed measures to be right – so damned
cruel – and the medical professionals* –
amateurs if you ask me that
couldn’t care less - nor find
a thing wrong with me ‘cause it was
all in my frackin’ head – I wished
I’d been shot straight through the heart and
brought back in a body bag to
base – it was my fault for believing
those damned recruiters in the first place
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