The Invisible Price

American heroes
Hidden from view
Shuffle the halls
Of this home
And countless others
Like living dead
On instinctual patrol

Spent ammunition
From wars nobody won
Shells of shiny soldiers
Once rolled off
Proud assembly lines
Only to be shipped off
And stripped of their stars
Stripes and souls
In some frosty
Forgotten desert
Once on the lips
Of patriots everywhere

Where are they now
The delirious fans
And fireworks
So eager to watch
The spilling of red
White and blue
Over our enemies

Are they
Piecing together
Paraplegic puzzles
In the activity room
Or sharing
A Saint Bernard
With those who lost
All human connection

Did they drop the sword
Or just move on
To spearheading the next
Red alert
Without gaging
The shunned reality
Of their last parade