Hero

See that filthy, scurvy man
standing on the street corner
he stands there day and night
reaching out his dingy hand
asking only for
the sustenance of a life
that even lesser men
would not accept.

He claims to be a veteran
that he fought in foreign lands
in wars he did not start,
wars he did not choose,
and wars that will never end
because victory is still uncertain
to those who were not there.

But is he telling us the truth?
He doesn’t look like any hero
in any book of history.
He doesn’t look like anyone
that I’d want defending me
or you’d want defending you.

Did he really sacrifice
the way he says he has?
Did he really fight in wars
to preserve the freedom
that we can take for granted?
Is there a reason we should doubt
his mumbled, drunken words?
I do not know
and may never know for sure,
because, like you,
I was not there.