A Lesson Learned

Three years in the Army dressed

every day in boots and olive drab.

I made up my mind, this is who I

am for now, and this is what I have

signed-up to do. I did take an oath,

after all, swearing to defend against

all enemies foreign and domestic. I

worked for a year in a factory after

that, for the money I told myself, to

support my family and make a home.

Jobs had come and gone over the

years, some were good, most seen

as a necessity just to get along. I

made up my mind to endure the

grind for as long as I could. Then,

I would pull the trigger and propel

myself on to something else. There

was the first marriage, a second (of

sorts), and a third with some lesser

attachments in between. If life is

indeed meant as a lesson, then I

must consider my history and ask,

after seventy-one years and in my

time on earth, what have I learned?

One entry in the annuls of my tenure

here resonates and repeats itself to

me as I sit here worn and gray, alone

day after day in my old age—it’s too

late, and by all indications, of no use

either—no one can tell me what to do.

From this, even the truth in my poetry

refuses to set me free.

Chris Hanch 6-4-18