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My Generation

by Tony Whitaker

So now I wait for life to leave me.

So now I see what we have done.



Our early years were somewhat usual

but then we saw the acid sun.

Some teens taste this dragon’s breath,

some forced to fight a war and death

in the end we found deliverance.

We found ourselves inside the gun.



And no-one forced us to waste this land.

And no-one knows all we have done.

We gave our children all we stood for,

like clothes sown with some Asian's blood.

We took away their sense of freedom.

Soccer for the world's best son

or make her fit our white-bread world

praise her as she does her dancing act.

Now tell me, "Was that something fun?"



"Peace and Love" was our mantra.

But man finds Peace behind his gun.



So Mother Earth we now leave you

Forgive us for trying too hard to run

as my gray-haired gentle generation

dies beneath a tireless sun.

10/04/2008

Author's Note: This is a take off of my earlier piece, "This Finite Beach of Sand". If our generation had just listened to what we stood for. I am a veteran and was hated by most young Americans in 1972, when I joined to serve. No I was not drafted. Therefore a hidden dichotomy I SO struggled with in writing this poem. But I sometimes like to take someone's particular perspective and write a poem from that character, which can be fun or a struggle, especially keeping your SELF out of it.
But one thing is for certain, ignorance is no defense. I do agree we could have made this a better world. The truth was out there.

Posted on 10/04/2008
Copyright © 2024 Tony Whitaker

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by George Hoerner on 10/04/08 at 04:13 PM

I love it Tony! Yes, peace and love! I'm probably a little older than you and served before I had to carry a gun and actually shoot at someone. I think we all thought more about 'the other'. That person without the freedom and promise we thought we had. And I'm sure most of us wonder where it went. Is age the price we pay for having lived through the romance?

Posted by Kris Mara on 08/04/09 at 09:39 PM

this goes right to my heart when I read it...I'm not sure how else to say it. It's crafted beautifully...the pace drives perfectly down the page...and in the end, all I can do is feel the words you've written here...

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