Ticking Clock

Ticking clock… 4-9-17 (edited) Original 3-25-17—Leo Farley

Tick..tock..tick..
damn that clock
can’t slow it down
can’t make it stop
Memories like anchors
weighing me down
echoes from the past
war’s sights and sounds.

The heat of the day
the fear of the night
The battle for Hue
steamy jungle tales of
search and destroy
monsoon rains
stands at Khe San
claymore mines
M-16’s M-79’s
tunnel rats
and grunts
daily humps
burning huts
children’s cries
ghosts of My Lai

No welcome home
No thanks for your service

Let the past
stay in the past
a common refrain
but it does not obey
coming into the present
laying claim to the day
finally dissolving
into memories of gray
While time continues
to tick-tock away.