ptsd Ptsd Mst *triggers*

[shortpig]

Please be prepared for emotions. If you are having a really bad day put this on the back burner and do not read it! Wait for another day please.

The Other Veteran

Oh how proud I was when I signed up to serve

Protect my country, I had such a nerve

For some reason though unbeknownst to me

I was not warned what my fate would be.

I learned to march and be part of a team,

They taught me pride, gave me self esteem.

They gave me a gun taught me how to aim

How to pull the Trigger again and again

I felt big and strong all puffed up with pride

Until that night and the horrifying ride

Yes Sgt please take me back to the base

He soon made it clear I was no longer safe

When I finally arrived back on the base

Beaten and bruised I felt so disgraced

I prayed that someone would save my life

Stand up for me and and help with my strife

Soon I would learn that wasn’t the case

I was left all alone in this strange lonely place

There was no support for the wounded like me

I was then told it was over, so just let it be

It wasn’t over for the horror lives on

It comes in waves at night and at dawn

Now broken and battered and needing that team

I’m no longer fit and lost all self esteem

They no longer need me as a soldier they say

So go pack your things and be on your way

Far as we are concerned your life here is done

Go back to your family, Hurry up now and run

I have since learned after thirty years and more

I’m not truly alone for I’ve met so many more

So many of us who were used and abused

Then thrown away while they kept the accused

So many nightmares I cannot control

Great fear of people and of the unknown

Trigger now means sights, smells and sounds

No longer aiming and shooting some rounds

My days are now spent much different from most

I live with my fears that are shared with a ghost

Most spent in seclusion so afraid to come out

Panic and fear is what my life is about

I’m the Other Veteran with a war yet I can’t win

Still fighting and losing the battle to him

My body now old will shake out of control

The pain and the ache are deep down in my soul

Should you someday meet someone who suffers like me

Remember their battle that no one can see

It’s there big as life for them day after day

Even when sleeping it won’t go away

The Other Veteran

JMS/Shortpig

[yoggie2]

Good poem, I served in a different place and time but the pain it the same...Yog

[trailblazer]

Very good poem shortpig. A dramatic experence in a veterans life never goes away.

[Brian]

outstanding poem. This should be published, especially in a book about PTSD/MST. I hope you don't mind if I post this at Vet Center where I attend group therapy.

[clw4514]

very moving! its as if u were in my head when u wrote that.

[sharon]

I feel your pain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[purple]

That is a powerful poem...I so understand...