Typewriter Rodeo: World War II Veterans

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem on Texas topics.

By Sean PetriMarch 6, 2020 12:47 pm,

This poem was prompted by a listener request.

WWII Veterans

To those who have served, we thank you.

You walk in a bar

Maybe a new one downtown

Maybe an old one that’s been there

Since you can remember

And you see people chatting

Laughing and clinking their glasses

Do they have any idea?

The simple freedom

To go where you want

When you want to

With whoever you choose

To cheers and joke

About weather or the government

All of them there

Do they have any idea

How close we were

To losing it all

There’s an old photo on the wall

Just beside the bar

A grainy black and white

Of a fresh face, smiling,

Standing on the wing of a plane

A face that could be yours

And all these people

Have no idea

And yet still you raise your glass

And give them a toast,

And the rest of us

In bars and stores and homes

All across the State

Do the same, for you, and say, thanks

 

Produced by Laura Rice.