I wrote this for another Howard( good friend) that suffered damage beyond help in Viet Nam Least we Forget the price they paid.

The Silver Star

“Said his name was Howard; couldn’t understand the last,”
The man said, “ My luck was good ; i almost walked on past;

Sorry I’m dirty smelling and sure don’t look the best,
But i was cold and hungry; could really use a rest,

Been on the streets a begging hand outs for a time so long,
Finally gittin to me, my health is almost gone,

Tried to get to Arizona, before the winter came,
But this old knee won’t let me, the leg is going lame,

Would love to travel onward, but wound up in LA
There’s a thousand other homeless here ; not a place to stay,

I wanna thank you for the soup,; been awhile without a meal,

There’s lots of Grocery stores around, but I sure hate to steal,

That’s taking fhings from someone else and I’ve been there too,
Had all my money stolen from me, that’s why I’m hittin you,

Oh , sorry for the coughing fit, guess it comes with gittin old,
Ain’t had the best of shelter lately; can’t seem to shake this cold,

Wanna thank you for the bunk tonight , I’ll be movin on tomorrow.”
But when morning came it brought to light a very common sorrow,

It wasn’t that unusual considering the Homeless plight,
The vagrant known as Howard had passed away that night,

Director said, “Just call the Morgue and ask them to handle things,
They’ll take care of the cremation and mass bury the remains.

I know that it sounds callus, but there’s no other way,
When you have to deal with hundreds, what more is there to say.”

The coroner made his visit; questioned everyone around,
But Howard had no wallet and no ID could be found,

While searching through his jacket something fell out on the floor,
The coroner grabbed the object : then looked up and swore,

His voice was breaking badly and with tears he said,
My God, I can’t believe it and now this man is dead,

I hold here, a Silver Star, awarded to this man;
For Gallantry In Action, he earned in Viet Nam,

God, how many homeless veterans are suffering in this way?
A true American hero died unsung and broken, on this street today.”

Copyright © 2017 tom leftwich