Poem 12, June 12

Chester Johnson, Poem Four

I don’t know
if I want you
to write much about my service.  

I still have terrible dreams
about the things I saw.
It’s unspeakable what we had to do.  

It’s ungodly what they had to do.
We were young.
I will be 92 years old soon.  

I have diabetic feet.
I walk as much as I can
just to keep myself going.  

When I told my doctor about my memories,
he told me to go to the VA,
for they know how to deal such things.  

Patton never believed a military man
could be shell shocked during World War II.
Nowadays they just call it some initials.  

I never went to the VA.
You see they would have wanted
to do mental tests on me just to call me crazy.