A Veterans Day poem
They leave without fanfare,
packing pieces of themselves in duffel bags,
donning courage like an old coat,
that few could wear as well as them.
Faded memories of home,
are carried in their hearts
over the land and the sea,
        through heat and the cold,
        through the thunderous cacophony of war,
and the silence that follows.
Who can say what leads them to raise their hand,
and place our country on their sleeve—
but they do so proudly,
        and risk so much,
        and sacrifice so greatly,
for the hope and lives of people they have never met.
When they finally return to their neighborhoods,
the lives around them uninterrupted,
they carry their battles within—
stories etched beneath their skin,
        some shared,
        some kept hidden,
all of them honored.
Today, we stand, grateful and humble,
to remember them as they were and as they are,
to hold their legacy in our hearts,
    to feel, for a moment,
    the weight of what they have given,
and what they will always carry.