"Flyboy"
Submitted by Ernesto Gomez

You have been home for thirty years
you wake, you gasp, you feel old fears.

It still seems just like yesterday
Your wife will ask, "Are you okay?"

You try to rest, the sleep escapes.
You're tired of seeing those same old
tapes.

Your mind still sees those moments past.
You pray this night will go by fast.

If I could just go back in time,
I'd save your life, or give up mine.

It was just moments of death and fear,
yet I've relived it thirty years.


(The above were taken from "Windows
To Our Souls, Poems by The Riverside
Vet Center Writing Group)