To The Last Old Soldier (Poetry)

They cannot tell you anything about the war
for you were there —
the eyes and ears.
They can’t fool you —
you know exactly how it was.

And those who try and tell a different story —
glorify the senselessness
and dreadful waste
you give them that long look
and sigh, think only of the comrades lost.

The cold, stark truth goes with you — thinned by age
you’ll take it to the grave
where there are none to listen.
Then history will change — the tales re-written
by those who were elsewhere.