HERE I AM
By Thomas Shnbeck, Army
Writing Type: Poem
I walked the streets a broken man;
The years had worn me down.
From GI Joe and combat Bro,
They don’t need us now.
More than once I gave it up
only to be found.
Don’t come
‘round here, my friend,
There’s nowhere for your kind.
We just don’t like your frame of mind;
To see you now is just too tough.
We think you all know why
A helping band I found one day.
They told me I’m no fool.
They pulled me up and brushed me off;
They sent me back to school.
“Welcome home,” they said one day,
“You’re in OUR system now.”
I see the world a different way,
I’ve learned to wear a smile.
Even as the times grow bad,
There’s a place I take exile-
I use the VA now.
The years had worn me down.
From GI Joe and combat Bro,
They don’t need us now.
More than once I gave it up
only to be found.
Don’t come
‘round here, my friend,
There’s nowhere for your kind.
We just don’t like your frame of mind;
To see you now is just too tough.
We think you all know why
A helping band I found one day.
They told me I’m no fool.
They pulled me up and brushed me off;
They sent me back to school.
“Welcome home,” they said one day,
“You’re in OUR system now.”
I see the world a different way,
I’ve learned to wear a smile.
Even as the times grow bad,
There’s a place I take exile-
I use the VA now.
