THE BIG PARADE
Detroit to D.C.
night train
Capitol
parts East.
Lone young man takes a seat.
And by the rhythm of the rails
reading all his mother s mail from a city boy in a jungle town postmarked Saigon.
He ll go live his mother s dream
join the slowest parade he ll ever see.
Her weight of sorrows carried long and carried far.
"Take these
Tommy
to The Wall." Metro line to the Mall site with a tour of Japanese.
He s wandering and lost until a vet in worn fatigues takes him down to where they belong.
Near a soldier
an ex-Marine with a tattooed dagger and eagle trembling
he bites his lip beside a widow breaking down.
She takes her Purple Heart
makes a fist
strikes The Wall.
All come to live a dream
to join the slowest parade they ll ever see.
Their weight of sorrows carried long and carried far
taken to The Wall.
It s 40 paces to the year that he was slain.
His hand s slipping down The Wall for it s slick with rain.
How would life have ever been the same if this wall had carved in it one less name? But for Christ s sake
he s been dead over 20 years.
He leaves the letters asking
"Who caused my mother s tears
was it Washington or the Viet Cong?" Slow deliberate steps are involved.
He takes them away from the black granite wall toward the other monuments so white and clean.
O
Potomac
what you ve seen.
Abraham had his war too
but an honest war.
Or so it s taught in school.
Detroit to D.C.
night train
Capitol
parts East.
Lone young man takes a seat.
And by the rhythm of the rails
reading all his mother s mail from a city boy in a jungle town postmarked Saigon.
He ll go live his mother s dream
join the slowest parade he ll ever see.
Her weight of sorrows carried long and carried far.
"Take these
Tommy
to The Wall." Metro line to the Mall site with a tour of Japanese.
He s wandering and lost until a vet in worn fatigues takes him down to where they belong.
Near a soldier
an ex-Marine with a tattooed dagger and eagle trembling
he bites his lip beside a widow breaking down.
She takes her Purple Heart
makes a fist
strikes The Wall.
All come to live a dream
to join the slowest parade they ll ever see.
Their weight of sorrows carried long and carried far
taken to The Wall.
It s 40 paces to the year that he was slain.
His hand s slipping down The Wall for it s slick with rain.
How would life have ever been the same if this wall had carved in it one less name? But for Christ s sake
he s been dead over 20 years.
He leaves the letters asking
"Who caused my mother s tears
was it Washington or the Viet Cong?" Slow deliberate steps are involved.
He takes them away from the black granite wall toward the other monuments so white and clean.
O
Potomac
what you ve seen.
Abraham had his war too
but an honest war.
Or so it s taught in school.
