Boots in the Ground

I cannot bear to stand or kneel

for boots all in a row.

It reminds me of the friends

I lost and some I needed so.

Each time I say I’ll cry no more,

how wrong can this soldier be?

These are my buddies who fought

and died and sometimes next to me.

The boots are just a number

for a nation to recall.

Except for the soldier who strapped them on

and that day gave is all.

To his family and friends

there is no end.

The pain becomes each day a breath,

a voice now gone, but will never go away.

I cannot stand boots in a row,

but I will still fight and pray

to God for the soldiers

who filled them so.

What Drives Men Crazy

By Mike Nelson

What drives men crazy is not what we did
as much as what we didn't do.
What was never said that needed to be spoken.
What could have been fixed,
We left broken.

We let work, friends and other forces drive us,
believing we could leave it at the door.
And as we fell, we never saw the floor.
We clawed our way back on our feet
and left nobody close.

Everybody knows they're
the one who loves you the most.
We destroyed lives after lives
because an old love owned us.
and we ran so fast
there was not much left of us.

We were proud of what we'd done,
but not always how we did it.
And we saw the end of our lives
With no love in it.