Today

by Woody Barlow

Today,
And every day since Vietnam
I see the brown eyes
Of a ten year old boy
Staring through me…

He was not crying
Or blinking
After we killed most of his
Three generation family

I couldn’t explain to him
About mistakes…
Or the fog of war
As we carried dead family members
Past where he sat
He continued to stare
Showing no emotion
Fifty years later
I wonder
Where he is
And if he has healed

I have not.