Red, White and Blue
© by John Monteleone – 8-04-06

his family had fought in all the wars
when not building or cleaning someone else’s floors

he crawled through the dirt as the sun beat down on him
like two people screaming at once they exchanged violent fire
you could hear the smack enter him

he rolled onto his back on foreign ground
his blood pouring out without even a sound
painting the ground where he had fallen – red
predator’s eyes smiled at his pain – dragon’s in their head
he hated them as they hated him
those invisible voices from deep within
had met brother-to-brother in this bloody sin

he remembered his favorite song
as his screams turned to whispered moans
he could not speak anymore
his wife’s eyes appeared before his own
her gentle, loving hand touched his trembling chin
she kissed his lips he kissed her back
he could taste her breath like the very first time
heard his baby giggling daddy and saw his infant eyes
suddenly he questioned if this was “right”
but it was all clouded in white

back home his mother was folding the laundry
his father drove home from work
his brother rolled up the hosing
his recruiter signed another one up

bugles from the centuries past began to sing
medals arriving at loved-ones doors
the rhetoric well-rehearsed
the solutions that never worked
all rested with him in this blood-stained dirt

the ground red
his mind lost in white
his face blue

he stared up at the sun looking upon his one life
as the blanket of darkness appeared silently
and in an instant

(guitar strum – hand over strings
rhythm — a heart beat, dying… stops. )