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Government Contract


by J. Daniel Taylor


So what happens
To the VFW
In a global economy
And the monuments
Erected in reverence
After the boys
Who became men
Came back home
To be fathers
Then grandfathers
Great-grandfathers
And start to fall away
As the days creep by
That petty pace
Of politics as usual
Family Diasporas
And maybe someone
Is a voluntary hero
Unlike that era
Where everyone
Wanted to shoot
A real Nazi
Not on a Playstation
Not stationed to play
Or inspiring kids
On motorbikes
Like the Great Escape
So what happens
To the smoky halls
Of buildings
Stuck by the freeways
In the inner city
When the procession
Of time marches
Over graves in Arlington
And the grand kids
Become soldiers
Become parents
Grand parents
Great grandparents
Whose future dreams
Included an end to war
And flying cars
Each generation
Getting neither….
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