cw: suicide, mental illness, violence

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did he save our country
did he spread our fear
did he shape our unity
or merely hide tears?

he is a plaster thin smile
he is a thousand mile stare
he is still stiff at attention
and fighting everywhere

yet the battle never won
wasn't meant to be a bottle
prescription or glass
it speeds the years past
ever closer to that closer
a crash of metal full throttle

denied by fate
twisted by lies
robbed by congress
selling what's inside

and there's not much left
for the guns without ammo
if they saved any bullets
it's for their final salvo

and the good ones
died young
so the live ones
ain't sung

every monument
to mass death
a reminder that next
is too far and too many
and the gone
never left pretty

so to live on
honors every scar
but the give is beyond
what any man has
with the toll paid
no one will save
the army who lived

did he spread our tears
did he save our unity
did he shape our fear
or merely hurt for country?