For Their Service
by Ariana Stadtlander
​
Averted gaze and hidden glance,
Please don’t notice me staring.
I just can’t help myself.
How did you get like this?
Your matted mane --
Knotty, natted, ratted, tousled, tangled.
Your scraps of clothing --
Worn, torn, tattered, ragged, ripped.
You stand hunched over
Like a spineless question mark.
Your bony, spindled fingers
Curled into an uncurlable pretzel.
Your face is old and weathered,
Your sad eyes a window to the past,
To the hard life you’ve lived,
To the hard life you will live.
How did you get like this?
​
Is that what I think it is --
Pinned to your coat,
The coat that’s too big,
Too big for your skinny shoulders.
It’s lost its patriotic shine.
The colors of our freedom flag:
Dim, darkened, fading, waning, weakened.
Like your battered spirit.
There’s a story to that pin,
The story of a soldier.
I thank you for your service,
Your sacrifice for my freedom.
But, tell me,
How did you get like this?
â’¸ 2019 Ariana M. Stadtlander